


Free Falling

by inkheart9459



Series: Falling [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-01-11 11:45:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 68,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkheart9459/pseuds/inkheart9459
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to It's Not the Fall That Kills You. Three years after that fateful day in the hospital Emma Swan doesn't think she could have it any better. She finally has the family she's wanted her entire life and things are going smoothly. She's head over heels in love with Regina. Henry is a good kid. There isn't anything she could do to make it better. Until she realizes there is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys, and welcome back those of you who read the first story. I really hope you guys like this one. Just a head's up we've skipped ahead time wise three years from the last story. Oh, and this basically starts right off the bat with smut later in the chapter. Skip the last break if you'd like to avoid it. With that, enjoy the Emma high jinx.

Emma moaned and rolled over as she felt warmth leave her arms. She cracked her eyes open slightly and saw Regina moving about the room quietly. Her eyes slipped closed again after a second, still burning and tired and definitely not ready to be open yet.

“Regina,” she whined. “It’s too early in the morning and it’s _Saturday_. Come back to bed.” She patted the bed beside her.

“Some of us have things to do, Emma.” Emma could hear the smile in Regina’s voice.

“Like what? Like I said, it’s Saturday, the universal day of sleeping in.”

“Well, for one I have to make our son breakfast.”

“He’s thirteen, Regina. He won’t be up before noon. I’ll bet a week’s worth of laundry _and_ I’ll even pick up your dry cleaning.”

She heard the bedroom door open. “Henry?” Regina called into the hallway.

“Yeah, Mom?” Henry’s voice was faint, but still there and very much awake.

Emma groaned. “Seriously? It’s like eight in the morning. That kid is not right.”

“Nothing, Honey,” Regina called back to Henry. “Just proving a point to your mother. I’ll start fixing breakfast in a moment.”

“Cool,” Henry faintly replied.

“He didn’t inherit the early bird tendencies from me. No one in their right mind gets up before noon unless they have to.”

“Shame you won’t be up before noon, darling. I promised Henry I’d make pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes.”

Emma’s eyes snapped open. She sat up and looked at her girlfriend with wide eyes. “Did you say chocolate chip pancakes?”

Regina smiled, tying her robe around her waist. “I did. I thought I might even pull out the whip cream too.”

Emma’s eyes widened and saliva pooled in her mouth. “Well, when you put it that way.” Emma quickly got out of bed and pulled on her own robe.

Regina laughed and started to walk from the room.

“Regina?” Emma said, stopping the other woman in her tracks.

“Yes, dear?”

“Henry has plans with Ava and Nicholas today, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, right after breakfast, why?”

“I can think of a better use for the whip cream than pancakes.” Emma smirked and waggled her eyebrows.

Regina snorted. “Really, Miss Swan, you are insatiable.”

“And we both know you love it. And you really can’t say anything about insatiable. The other night we went seven rounds Regina. Seven. Because someone couldn’t get enough, now could they?”

A slight blush graced Regina’s cheeks. “I didn’t hear you complaining.”

“And you never will. Just proving a point, my queen.” Emma mock bowed. “Now I believe I was promised pancakes.”

Regina laughed. “I suppose you were. Come on then, let us go satisfy your craving.” Regina cocked an eyebrow before turning and sashaying from the room.

Emma followed watching Regina’s hips sway hypnotically in front of her the whole way to the kitchen. Together they set to work gathering the ingredients for pancakes, never missing a beat, this morning dance one they had done a hundred times since Emma moved in the year before. In no time the family was sitting down to breakfast, smiling, talking, and laughing like they did almost every Saturday. Emma loved these days, where they were a normal happy family. She cherished them more than anything else.

She looked across the table into deep brown eyes. It was all because of Regina that she finally had a family. Her heart swelled and she couldn’t find it in her to wipe the smile from her face through the rest of the meal.

 

Later, once Henry was off with his friends and the can of whip cream lay empty, Emma was curled up in Regina’s arms, basking in the warmth of the woman she loved. Regina ran her fingers through Emma’s hair lightly, tugging on the tangles that she encountered gently but effectively. Emma snuggled closer to the other woman and sighed contentedly.

They lay like that for a long while until Emma’s stomach growled loudly. Regina snorted lightly in Emma’s ear. Emma felt Regina place a light kiss on the top of her head.

“Well it seems like someone is hungry again.”

Emma turned to face Regina. “Well, what can I say, your majesty, you provide a great work out.”

“Or perhaps we should just attribute it to the fact that you’re a bottomless pit when it comes to food.”

“I am not!” Emma scowled.

“Darling, you eat more than our thirteen year old son.” Regina smiled fondly at Emma. “When he gets older you two will eat me out of house and home, I’m sure of it.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, ok, whatever you say, Madam Mayor. As long as I get to eat your food you can tease me all you wish about my eating habits.”

Regina stretched and moved to get out of the bed. “Well then, I’m glad you see things my way, Miss Swan.”

Emma snorted but smiled at the brunette.

“I think it would be prudent for both of us to shower first before we went downstairs, though.” Regina pushed herself off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Emma hopped up and grabbed her arm, halting Regina’s progress. “Not so fast. Why would we take a shower so early? It’d just be going to waste.” Emma pulled Regina back into her arms and whispered in her ear, “Because I have plans to take you on the kitchen counter later. You look too god damn sexy in an apron not to bend you over and have my way with you. I already missed out on one opportunity today, I’m not missing anymore.”

A quiet moan escaped Regina’s throat before she shook her head and took a small step away from Emma. “Dear, we really must break you of the habit of having sex on the kitchen counters. It’s unsanitary.”

“So was having sex in the supply closet at Town Hall, but I didn’t see you complaining. And that was your idea. Besides, it’s not like you don’t super Clorox wipe the counters after we’re done anyway.”

“The closet sex was only my idea because someone convinced me it was a good idea to wear vibrating panties to a budget meeting where _someone_ turned them on.” Regina shot her a death glare, but it was nothing like the ones of days past. It was almost…loving.

“Oh, come on, you had to know that was coming, Regina, you know me.”

Regina’s mouth turned up at the corners. “That I do.”

“And besides once we were in that closet you came so hard you passed out for a solid minute. You can’t tell me that you didn’t enjoy it.”

“Oh no, I enjoyed that particularly mind blowing orgasm, I just didn’t enjoy waking up the closet floor a minute later. God knows what at on that floor.”

Emma laughed. “But you know exactly what’s been on the kitchen counter so there won’t be an issue.”

“I said no, Sheriff. And that’s final.” Regina walked towards the bathroom once again.

Emma caught her again and started to kiss down her neck, biting lightly at the spot where Regina’s shoulder met her neck. Regina moaned loudly as Emma’s teeth sunk into her flesh. Regina leaned back into Emma, resting her head on Emma’s shoulder. Emma gladly took Regina’s weight and continued the assault.

Emma pulled back a minute later. “We both know you’re putty in my hands whenever I start kissing your neck. I start kissing you downstairs and we both know we won’t make it anywhere else _but_ the kitchen counter.”

Regina growled lightly. “I do not find that to be fair, Sheriff.”

Emma turned Regina around and guided Regina’s hands to her lower back. Regina started to caress the skin there immediately. Emma had to suppress a moan to get out her next words.

“It’s not as if you don’t have your own ways to control me.” As soon as she was done speaking she bit her lip and leaned down onto Regina’s shoulder.

Regina hummed thoughtfully. “You do make a good case, Emma.”

Emma smiled. She was back to Emma, she was out of the dog house. She had figured out long ago that Regina only used the title Sheriff when she was angry at Emma. Miss Swan depended, it could either be a term of endearment or a slight admonishment depending on the tone, but Sheriff was never good.

Regina pulled her hands away from Emma’s lower back. Emma groaned at the loss of contact.

“And I also have the outfits left over from the Enchanted Forest if I really need to persuade you.”

Emma’s eyes widened slightly and a bolt of arousal shot straight to her core. _God_ , Regina in those outfits should be a crime.

Regina looked thoughtful for a moment. “Perhaps I’ll make you a deal, Miss Swan.” Regina reached up and trailed her fingers down Emma’s face lightly. “No premeditated kitchen counter sex in exchange for me wearing an outfit of your choosing instead.”

“Does this deal only cover today, or is this on going? Because let me tell you pretty much every time we’re in the kitchen I have some sort of fantasy. And I won’t get punished if it’s spur of the moment kitchen sex?”

“Consider it an ongoing deal. For every week you manage not to fuck me in our kitchen you get one outfit.”

Emma bit her lip in thought. Kitchen sex or Evil Queen outfits? Well, she really could have both just not on the same week.

“Deal.”

“Good,” Regina purred.

“But for the love of god will you help me unlace your corset next time. Those things are a bitch to get off.”

Regina smirked. “No, Miss Swan, I think you’re just getting the hang of it. It’ll be good practice.” Regina walked over and donned her robe again. “But since you obviously have no intention of us staying clean if we take a shower I suppose I’ll go fix us lunch. And yes before you ask Miss Swan if you make it through today without taking me in the kitchen later you can pick out an outfit. Consider it a taste of what’s to come.” Regina arched and eyebrow at her and swept out of the room regally.

Emma stared after her dumbly. God she loved when some of the Evil Queen came out to play. She slipped on her robe and followed after her girlfriend.

 

Regina set a grilled cheese and a cup of tomato soup in front of Emma and sat down across from the blond with her own salad. Emma smiled brightly at the other woman before digging in. Emma didn’t know how it was possible, but even Regina’s grilled cheeses tasted better than average and she didn’t think the brunette did anything out of the ordinary while preparing them. Magic, it probably came back to magic somehow. She shrugged and munched on.

“Do you know what Henry was planning on doing with Ava and Nicholas today?” Regina asked, spearing a piece of chicken on her fork.

“Dunno, think they were just hanging out for the day. Henry said something about a hike when he asked me and archery practice with Ava. They’ll probably be some super hero geekery with Nicholas in there somewhere too. If he stays true to form he’ll ask to spend the night later too.” Emma’s eyes lit up. Evil Queen outfits were in her future. She licked her lips.

Regina nodded. She had known everything Emma was going to say. She was Henry’s mother long before Emma was. Emma looked at her, head titled slightly to the side. There was something else on her mind.

“You don’t think that Henry’s is getting too old to stay over with Ava? He’s thirteen. He’ll be dating soon.” Regina’s voice hitched at the last part.

Emma smiled kindly. “No, I don’t worry about him and Ava.”

“Why not? She’s not the best influence. She could be pressuring him into doing something he doesn’t want to.”

“You raised Henry better than that, Regina. He won’t do anything wrong. And Ava won’t be pressuring him to do anything that you’re thinking anyway.”

“Why are you so certain?” Regina regarded Emma carefully, searching her face.

Emma snorted. “You really don’t see the way she looks at you when she comes over, do you?”

Regina’s face scrunched, confused. “Whatever do you mean, Miss Swan?”

Emma stuffed another bite of grilled cheese in her mouth. “I mean that she looks at you like you’re a tiger or something, beautiful, something she wants, but something that’s able to kill her in an instant.”

“I don’t understand. And don’t talk with your mouth full, Miss Swan, I swear sometimes you’re worse than our son.” Regina rolled her eyes.

Emma swallowed. “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “But what I mean is, the kid’s got a major crush on you. And she’s also scared shitless of you, but that’s half the town anyway.” Emma shrugged. “She’s not going to try anything with Henry because she’s not interested in Henry or anyone with Henry’s anatomy. They’re just friends.”

“You don’t know that, Ava could like both.”

“Pay attention to the kid sometime, Regina. It’s really obvious. She hasn’t exactly learned subtly yet. She checks out just about every attractive female that walks by but doesn’t even glance at the hottest guys around here.”

“And why have you observed this.” Regina glared.

“Because I was worried about the same thing as you are right now, Regina. Remember, I’m the one who got pregnant at seventeen? I kinda didn’t want the kid to have any opportunity to repeat my mistakes. Not that I think he will, he’s a better kid than I ever was, but still, you know?”

Regina nodded. “And you’re truly sure.”

“Yes, Regina, besides Henry totally has a crush on Paige anyway, so it’s not like even if Ava was straight that anything would happen. Boy’s got it bad.”

“Wait, Henry has a crush?!”

Emma laughed. “Regina, I think you might need to start paying more attention. The kids around here are growing up. You miss a lot if you think of them as totally sexless, innocent beings.”

Regina looked down and sighed. “I suppose you’re right, Emma. I just don’t want him to grow up so fast.”

Emma grabbed one of Regina’s hands across the table. “I know, I don’t either. Feels like I just got here and he’s going to be gone and grown up and away at college the second I blink at the wrong time.”

“I feel that way, too, and I’ve been here the whole time.” She looked up at Emma with slightly watery eyes. “We’re both going to be sobbing messes when he leaves for college, aren’t we.”

Emma laughed. “We will be, but for now that’s five years away. We don’t need to worry about that just yet. He’s still our little boy, even if he’s going to be taller than you by the end of the year.”

Regina wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. “Good.”

They finished the rest of the meal in silence, never letting go of the other’s hand.

 

 

Their meal done, they migrated into Regina’s study. Emma curled up on one end of the couch, book in hand while Regina leaned her back against Emma’s side, stretching her legs out across the rest of the couch and resting a lap desk on them. Regina caught up on paperwork while the blonde caught up on her latest trashy romance novel. The brunette conjured two glasses of apple cider and lit the fireplace in front of them. Emma sipped on her glass and she turned the pages of her book, alternating between scoffing at the ridiculousness of the story and being intensely interested in it. All the while Regina’s pen scratched across official town documents.

Emma reached the end of a chapter and stuck her bookmark between the pages. She threw the book onto the end table and turned slightly towards Regina.

“You know most people don’t do paperwork on the weekend.”

“Most people aren’t still trying to right the town from the mess your parents made when they forced my departure,” Regina replied, signing another document.

“That was two and a half years ago.”

“Yes, well, when your parents screw something up they don’t do it half way.”

“You’re being serious, you’re still dealing with their mess?”

“Yes, Miss Swan. And I will still be dealing with it for another two years at least. Then perhaps our town’s budget will finally be to rights again.”

“Jesus, Regina, I didn’t know it was really that bad.”

Regina shrugged. “It’s nothing that I can’t handle. Though I do have to suppress the urge to slap your mother for spending fifty thousand dollars in less than two weeks, and that was one of her less…offensive moves as mayor of the town. But wanting to harm Snow White is a natural state for me, so it’s easily ignored.”

“How the hell do you spend that much money in two weeks?”

“You know your new cruiser?”

“Yeah, I love that thing.” Emma smiled. That was one of the better perks of being Sheriff actually. She got to drive the new cruiser and actually feel like a legitimate cop, not like Barney Fife in a cruiser that was literally as old as she was.

“Well, that’s where most of it went. The rest went to building animal habitats around town, mostly birdhouses.”

Emma put her head in her hands. “Of course birdhouses would be in there somewhere. Fucking bluebirds everywhere.”

Regina snorted. “At least you don’t live with her anymore darling. Now you can avoid dealing with her avian minions as much as possible.”

“Rats, rats with wings.” Emma shivered. After the curse broke progressively more and more bluebirds had followed Snow around until she practically had her own flock every time she stepped outside. They were well behaved enough that everyone else didn’t mind. But Emma _hated_ birds. “But seriously how did they manage to keep the town running for six months if they spent money that recklessly?”

“Obviously they really didn’t, dear, or I wouldn’t be mayor again. Your mother obviously didn’t pay attention to her lessons back in our world about how to control the kingdom’s finances. She spent most of the town surplus that’s only supposed to be used in emergencies plus all of that year’s budget as well.” It was Regina’s turn to shiver. “That year was a nightmare.”

Emma remembered that year well. Regina had been constantly cranky for a month and more than one creative death threat against her mother had been lodged. She had thought Regina was just being dramatic about the mess her mother had left in her wake, but apparently not.

“It’s going to take another two years to restore the surplus to what it should be, thus why money has been tight as of late in the town budget. The last thing we need is a Nor’easter to hit us and not have the money to clean up the town.”

Emma nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. So that’s why you snap if I request more paper than allotted at the end of the year.”

“That would be one reason, Miss Swan. The other being I know you waste at least some of it playing paper basketball.”

Emma blushed lightly. “What can I say, it’s not like much is happening around town anymore.”

“Regardless, Miss Swan, you shouldn’t be wasting resources like that. You have dartboard if you really need to be entertained that badly. Or if you’re really bored you could always come upstairs and file paperwork for me.”

“Uh…” Emma would rather fall off a three story building. That’s what she had volunteer deputies for.

“That’s what I thought.” Regina smirked.

Emma extricated her arm from under Regina and wrapped it around the other woman’s waist.

“Fine you win, I’ll stop playing paper basketball and I’ll stop questioning your paperwork habits.” Emma kissed Regina’s temple. “You work too hard you know.”

Regina sighed heavily. “It’s the only way I’ll keep my job. If I don’t perform impeccably, someone will endeavor to take it from me. You know that.”

Emma squeezed her tighter. “I know, but they would have to go through me first.”

“Thank you, Emma,” Regina said quietly.

“You’re always welcome, my queen.”

Emma picked up her book again and opened it to where she left off. Regina pulled the book out of her hands a second later.

“You know, _you_ don’t have to read these…atrocious excuses for literature.”

Emma snorted. “If I wanted to read literature I sure as hell wouldn’t be reading romance novels. At least modern ones anyway.”

“Then why read this glorified smut?”

“For laughs mostly. Though sometimes it does give me some _creative_ ideas.” Emma grinned at Regina.

“Do not tell me some of the things we’ve done in the bedroom have been inspired by romance novels.”

Emma shrugged. “I didn’t tell you, you figured it out. And believe me, you’ve liked some of the things I’ve tried.”

Regina groaned. “Don’t inform me of which ones, I want to remain ignorant on this particular issue. I do not want to knowingly enable this habit of yours. I don’t even see how you can get past the first page. The writing is usually horrendous and the plot formulaic at best and do not even get me started about the characters and their characterization.”

Emma pulled back and looked at Regina closely. “Regina Mills, are you a literary snob?”

“I prefer literary critic.”

“Oh come on, Regina, it’s not like you could write a better story.”

Regina cocked an eyebrow. “Miss Swan I had 28 years to do whatever I pleased, why wouldn’t I try my hand at writing?”

“Oh my god, you wrote a romance novel?” Emma’s eyes were the size of saucers.

“I didn’t say that, now did I, Miss Swan?” Regina looked away from Emma.

“But you _did_ , you look away when you’re trying to hide something. Oh my god, Regina you _have_ to show me. Pretty please?” Emma shot her the best puppy dog eyes she had.

“I’d rather not.”

“Oh come on, Regina, you can’t just tell me you wrote a book and not expect me to want to read it.”

“I can ask you not to, however.”

Emma paused for a moment. “Are you, Mayor Regina Mills, actually embarrassed by something you wrote?”

“It wasn’t as if anyone else was going to see it. I wrote it for myself.”

“So it’s kinky.”

“ _Miss Swan_.” Regina glared.

Emma rolled her eyes. “Regina, I sleep with you and have slept with you for three years for god’s sake. We have anything but a vanilla sex life. Need I remind you of the Evil Queen outfit you owe me later tonight?”

Regina sighed and looked at Emma. “Fine, it may have had a BDSM premise.”

Emma’s eyebrows rose in surprise. That definitely wasn’t something they had tried yet. “So basically you wrote Fifty Shades of Grey three decades before it actually came out.”

“Oh please,” Regina snorted. “It’s quite obvious whoever wrote that knew nothing about what they were doing.”

“And you do?”

Regina just looked at Emma. “One doesn’t become the Evil Queen and not know a thing or two by the end of her reign.”

“We’re going to come back to this at one point. And you are going to let me read that book if it’s the last thing I do, but Jesus, Regina, that’s so fucking hot I don’t even know what to do with myself.”

“Really, Miss Swan, I didn’t think it would be something that you would be interested in.”

“I’m up to try anything once, Regina. You should already know that. But we’ll come back to that later. For now I think you should go change into an Evil Queen outfit. I don’t think I can wait any longer.”

“You’re imagining me in all leather with a riding crop, aren’t you?”

“…maybe.”

Regina smiled. “I think I have just the thing.” She turned more fully and caressed Emma’s face. “And if you’re truly interested we will talk about everything later.” She set her paperwork aside and strode from the room. “Give me fifteen minutes to get ready, Miss Swan,” drifted back to Emma, still sitting on the couch in the study, slightly spellbound. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing that she ended up this way so often around Regina, or pathetic.

The corners of Emma’s mouth turned up. Good. Always good.

 

“You may come up now, Miss Swan,” Regina called a short time later.

Emma scrambled off the couch and ran up the stairs, practically tripping over herself to get there as soon as possible. She stopped dead at the doorway to their bedroom. Regina sat on the edge of the bed, legs crossed regally, staring at Emma expectantly. Emma sucked in a breath.

Holy hell.

Regina stood and stalked towards her. Emma swallowed hard as she got a full look at the outfit. Tight leather pants encased Regina’s legs, leaving little to the imagination. Emma watched, entranced by the way her muscles flexed under the material. The leather pants lead down to practical but still very sexy riding boots. Emma felt her mouth go dry.

Emma’s eyes drifted back up Regina’s form to take in the red riding coat that fell almost to the floor. It synched in Regina’s already tiny waist and pushed her boobs outward for Emma’s perusal and enjoyment. The shirt underneath the coat was low cut enough for Emma to see almost everything she wished. Her eyes continued their journey up Regina’s neck and finally looking at her face. Regina’s make up was darker, much more dramatic than usual. It made her eyes pop and intensified Regina’s natural beauty.

“See something you like, Miss Swan?” Regina asked, voice deeper, practically oozing sex.

“Yes, lord, yes. Holy fuck, Regina. I like this outfit even better than the one with the crazy top hat. I mean, shit. I don’t even know what I mean anymore.”

Emma stepped forward, reaching out to touch the other woman.

Regina stepped away. “Not so fast, Miss Swan.”

“Regina,” Emma whined. She couldn’t stand not touching the woman right at that moment.

“We haven’t made it through the whole day yet. You haven’t quite earned this outfit yet, dear.”

Emma groaned. “You aren’t going to be that evil are you? Please tell me you aren’t. Because I will not be able to handle it if you just walk around in that outfit all day. I literally think that I would jump you on any available surface.”

Regina chuckled darkly. “Oh no, I’m not going to be so cruel. But if you even so much as attempt to take me in the kitchen for the rest of the day, there will be consequences.”

Emma cocked an eyebrow and smiled. “Oh really, what kind of consequences?”

Regina’s eyes went hard and cold. “No sex for a week. I do not like when deals with me are broken.”

Emma gasped. “God no, please Regina, you know I can’t go that long. I’ll literally combust.”

“Then see that you do nothing in our kitchen.”

Emma nodded vigorously.

“Good.” Regina stepped forward and played with the hem of Emma’s shirt. “Then we may proceed. Get rid of this, Miss Swan. It’s hiding my view.”

Emma had her t-shirt on the floor in under five seconds. She stepped closer to Regina and laced her hands in the brunette’s soft hair and brought her in for a kiss. Regina immediately took charge and Emma gladly let her. Regina’s tongue left no corner of her mouth unexplored. Emma groaned lightly and clutched Regina’s hair tightly. Regina gasped lightly from the pain in her scalp, but further melted into the kiss.

Emma felt Regina’s hand move across the plains of her stomach and around to her back, stroking her lower back for a few seconds. Emma arched into the contact, but Regina’s hands moved on a second later. They traveled further up her back, leaving goose bumps in their wake. Regina fingered the clasp of her bra for a second before expertly undoing it. The straps fell down Emma’s arms and hung limp, the only thing keep her bra in place now was Regina’s body.

Regina gently eased them apart and tugged on Emma’s hand until they unwound from her hair. Emma’s bra was on the floor in the next instant. Emma stepped forward again, hands going for the button on Regina’s riding coat instead of her hair. She needed to feel her skin on Regina’s. She needed it now.

She flicked open the button easily enough and pushed it off Regina’s shoulders and onto the floor. Emma frowned at the row of little buttons that held the shirt beneath together. Those would take _forever_ to get off.

Regina chuckled quietly, more of a rumble in her chest than anything substantive, at the look on Emma’s face. Emma glared up at her.

“Why do all your clothes from Fairy Tale Land have to look so damn good, but be so damn complicated.”

Regina smirked. “You haven’t even seen what’s under the shirt dear.”

“You did not wear a corset just to spite me. You’re in a riding outfit, Regina, don’t tell me you went riding in a corset.”

Regina shrugged. “I had to look my best at all times, Miss Swan.”

Emma groaned and set to work on the small buttons. “How is that even possible, Regina.”

Regina leaned in and licked the shell of Emma’s ear. Emma’s breath left her in a giant whoosh. God, it should be a crime how much Regina affected her.

“Magic, Miss Swan, it always comes back to magic.”

Emma finally hit the last button and pushed the shirt from Regina’s shoulders to pool on the floor with the coat. Underneath was a white lace corset. Emma stared at Regina for a few seconds. As much as she hated getting them off, lord were they hot. Emma’s fingers ghosted across the swell of Regina’s breasts where they met the fabric of the corset. The skin erupted into goose bumps.

“I suggest you get on with undressing me, Miss Swan. I am not a patient woman.”

Emma leaned in and started to kiss Regina’s neck, returning to the same spot she had bitten earlier and adding to the light mark she had left there. Regina was hers and everyone would know it.

She kissed her way up to Regina’s ear. “We all know you’re the most patient person out there…except when you’re aroused,” she whispered. Regina shivered under her.

Suddenly Emma found herself on her back on the bed. She hadn’t even seen Regina move. Emma smiled at the woman hovering over her. Regina looked down at her hungrily.

“Your observations are accurate, Miss Swan.” She lowered her head to Emma’s breast, taking a hardening nipple into her mouth.

Emma moaned loudly. She laced her hands through Regina’s hair again and pushed her head further into her body. Regina’s tongue circled her nipple in response, coaxing it into a peak. The brunette’s left hand glided across Emma’s body and played with the other nipple, rolling it and circling it lightly, making it stand to attention as well. Regina let Emma’s nipple go with a pop and switched to the other side.

Emma started to squirm under her. She was soaked and ready to go. She didn’t know how much more she could take. She needed Regina inside of her right now.

“Regina, please,” she groaned as Regina bit down lightly on her nipple.

Regina looked up at Emma, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She released Emma’s nipple and sat up. “Please what, Em- _ma_.” She smiled with kiss bruised lips.

Emma thought she could come just from Regina saying her name like that. “I need you to fuck me, Regina, please.”

Regina smiled wider. “As you wish, my white knight.”

Regina swung off of her and rid Emma of her pants and panties in one smooth motion. She crawled up Emma’s body once again. She kissed Emma hard. Emma responded immediately, desperately, trying to convey how much she needed the other woman in that instant.

“Fingers or mouth?” Regina purred in her ear.

“God, I don’t care as long as you do something.”

Regina pulled back and smiled predatorily. “Both it is.”

Emma groaned and fisted her hands in the sheets below her. God, she really didn’t understand how Regina could be so fucking sexy.

Regina started kissing her way down Emma’s body, stopping at certain places she knew drove Emma wild and spending a few seconds at each. Emma started squirming again now that Regina’s weight wasn’t fully on top of her. A few agonizing seconds later Regina was finally where Emma needed her.

A whine escaped Emma’s mouth as she felt Regina’s breath ghost across her clit. “Re-gi-naaaa,” she moaned.

Just as Regina lowered her head Emma’s cell phone rang.

“Do not answer that I beg of you. I might just kill whoever is on the other side,” Emma said, panting.

Regina sat up and dug Emma’s cellphone from her jeans pocket. “It’s Henry, dear. I have to answer.”

“First the kid costs me a week of laundry now this. God, can I disown him?”

Regina chuckled. “No, dear, you can’t.” Regina hit the answer button on Emma’s phone and brought it up to her ear.

“Hello, Henry,” Regina said cheerfully. She paused for a second. “Of course dear, just make sure you’re home tomorrow before noon like normal.” She paused again. “Yes, dear, I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, dear.”

Regina hit the end call button and threw down the phone, crawling back up and settling herself in the same position she was in before the phone rang. “You were right, Miss Swan, our son wanted to spend the night at Ava and Nicholas’s. Which leaves us alone the whole night to do. Whatever. We. Want.” Each of the last words were punctuated by a long lick across Emma’s clit.

Emma’s hips bucked as shocks of pleasure rippled through her body. “God, yes!” Emma exclaimed.

She felt Regina smile as she started to lick Emma in earnest. Regina alternated between short and long licks, changing it up, preventing a definite pattern from building Emma up to the peak. Emma squirmed harder, trying to get what she needed.

One of Regina’s arms snaked across her hips and held her down, preventing her from squirming too much. Emma groaned loudly. Regina was such a god damn tease at all the wrong times.

And then without preamble two fingers entered her. Emma screamed and clenched her fists in the sheets that much harder. She felt like she was going to rip them. She didn’t care.

Regina pumped in and out of her steadily, finally settling into a rhythm to match with her tongue. Emma felt herself getting closer and closer to the edge, warmth building at the base of her spine. The muscles in her thighs started to quiver. The noises that were escaping her throat were far from human. God, she was so close.

“Open your eyes and look at me, darling.” Regina said, ceasing her licking for a few seconds.

Emma pried her eyes open and looked at Regina as the brunette set to work once again. It was a struggle not to shut her eyes and twist herself back into the pillow once again, but brown eyes held her there. Her muscles quivered harder, the warmth at the base of her spine was almost unbearable.

With one scrape of Regina’s teeth against her clit she was gone, over the edge into oblivion. Her eyes closed of their own accord and her body arched tightly.

“Regina!” she screamed.

She came down from her high slowly. Her body was heavy and aftershocks kept coursing through her. Emma blinked open her eyes slowly. Regina lay with her head on Emma’s lower stomach looking at her softly.

“Welcome back.” She pulled her fingers out of Emma and licked them slowly.

Emma groaned and flopped her head back. “Holy shit, Regina, that was one for the record books.”

 Regina hummed around her fingers. They exited her mouth a second later, clean once again. “I’m glad dear.”

“Jesus, I don’t think I can move yet, but when I can I’m fucking you into next Tuesday.” Emma lifted her head up just in time to see a flash of desire flicker through Regina’s eyes.

Regina crawled up Emma’s body and nestled her head in the crook of Emma’s neck. “I look forward to it, Emma.”

Emma wrapped her arms around Regina’s body and drew her closer. She buried her nose in Regina’s hair and inhaled lightly, taking in the scent of the other woman, apple shampoo and something muskier that was purely Regina. Slowly, the heavy feeling left her limbs. She shifted and lifted Regina’s head to meet her eyes.

“Hi,” Emma said, smiling warmly.

“Hello, darling.” Regina returned the smile. “Feeling more alive are we?”

“Mhm.” Emma leaned down and captured Regina’s lips. This time she was the one in charge of the kiss. Emma sighed contentedly, tracing every part of Regina’s mouth she could reach.

Emma’s hands wandered down Regina’s sides and around to her back, toying with the laces of the corset. She undid the knot after a few tries and started to slowly loosen the laces as best she could from this position. Perhaps she was really getting better at this, the laces actually seemed to be obeying her will this time around. Maybe because she wasn’t scrabbling to get it off of Regina this time.

When Regina deemed the laces loose enough she sat up and rid herself of the garment coming back down and pressing into Emma. Both of them groaned at the feeling of their breasts pressing together. Emma’s hands roamed over the newly exposed skin lightly, tracing the paths of barely there scars and making the muscles under Regina’s skin twitch at the contact. Her hands migrated up to Regina’s neck pulling her in for a deeper kiss.

After a few seconds of kissing she flipped them. She ended the kiss and looked down at Regina. Regina’s hair was flung out over the pillow underneath her in a dark halo. Her makeup was smudged, her lips swollen. She was absolutely stunning.

“I love you, Regina.” Emma kissed her forehead lightly before dipping down to her neck and ravaging the skin there.

“I love you—ah—too,” Regina gasped back, tangling her hands in golden curls.

Emma licked, nipped, and sucked until Regina’s neck and collarbones were thoroughly marked and Regina was squirming underneath her, moaning loudly. Regina would probably yell later, but it was winter, turtlenecks and scarves were appropriate and tomorrow was Sunday anyway.

She moved down Regina’s body, moving to her breasts and giving them the same treatment she had received earlier, plus a few extra marks where ever she felt like leaving them. Emma moved slowly to her stomach, licking the ab muscles there and making them tremble and twitch. A swirl of her tongue into Regina’s belly button received and extra loud moan before Emma continued her trek towards her final destination.

When she reached the hem of Regina’s leather pants she licked along the edge, taste of the leather mixing with the taste of Regina’s skin. Her hands went about unlacing the front quickly and pulling them down.  Emma settled herself comfortably between Regina’s legs, hooking one over her shoulder for better access. Once she was happy with her placement she looked up at Regina and smiled. The brunette’s head was flung back into the pillow, her chest heaved up and down, a light blush across it. It was a delicious sight.

She lowered her head and took her first taste of Regina, moaning as the brunette’s essence coated her tongue, slightly sweet and tangy, much like the woman herself. Emma wasn’t up for teasing Regina. Not after the orgasm she had just had. No she’d give Regina what she needed, sans teasing. She could always tease later.

She licked in short strokes over Regina’s clit until she felt Regina’s thighs started to clench around her. Smiling, she lowered herself even further and plunged her tongue inside. Regina’s walls contracted, squeezing her tongue and trying to pull it further inside. She kept pulling her tongue in and out making sure to run it over the rough patch that always made Regina moan the loudest.

Regina’s moans were getting shorter and breathier. She was so very close. Emma circled one of her hands around Regina’s legs and pinched Regina’s clit lightly. A gush of fluid hit Emma’s tongue as Regina came. Emma lapped up every bit as Regina came down and her legs unclenched from around Emma’s head.

She crawled up Regina’s body and settled lightly on top of her. She brought her lips to the brunette’s and kissed her languidly, allowing the other woman to taste herself on Emma’s tongue. She pulled back a minute later and flopped her head down in the crook of Regina’s neck. Now that Regina was taken care of her body was heavy and sated again.

“After a nap we’re going to wake up and we’re going to order take out for dinner from whatever place that you find to be the least offensive and we’re going to fuck all night long on various surfaces until we pass out. Sound good?”

“Mmm,” Regina hummed into her hair.

“Good. Because I love you so fucking much and you’re so fucking hot I literally do not ever want to stop touching you.”

“I love you too, Emma. So much I don’t even think you realize it some days.”

Emma sat up just enough to peck Regina on the lips quickly before laying down again. “You’d be surprised how much I catch on, your majesty.”

Regina chuckled tiredly.  “Some days I am. Other days, I’m not surprised at all.”

Emma smiled, closed her eyes, and fell asleep still on top of Regina shortly after.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma finally realizes just what she can do to make everything that's already great into something even better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this is such a short chapter, when I wrote everything it was in a big old hunk with only scene breaks and no real chapters, so sometimes when I'm trying to split it up thematically this happens. A next, longer chapter should be up sometimes soon. Enjoy.

Emma lazed on the couch in the family room the next day. Her feet were stretched out in front of her, blanket wrapped around her legs, and pillows behind her back. She was as comfortable as she was going to get considering every time she moved even a little bit some muscle or another would send a slight zing of pain through her body. She rubbed her lower back gently. She was sure there was going to be a bruise there, if there wasn’t already. God, why did they think it was a good idea to have sex on the stairs? But Jesus, it had been worth it at the time.

Now, however, the remote was all the way at the other end of the couch on the end table and there was no way she was moving.

“Reginaaaa,” Emma called, whining slightly.

“Emma, I am not getting the remote control for you,” Regina said, muffled a bit. Emma figured she must have been in the kitchen.

“But, Gina!”

“We have been over this, Miss Swan. You do not call me Gina under any circumstances.”

“But, _Regina_ , you’re the reason I’m so sore.”

“Take some ibuprofen. I’m not without my own aches and pains from last night.” Regina walked in the room and smirked at Emma from the door way.

“You fucked me on the stairs. That out does anything I did to you.”

“Rug burn, Miss Swan, on places there never should be rug burn.” Regina cocked an eyebrow.

Emma pursed her lips. “We call it a tie?”

Regina considered for a minute. “Fair enough, Emma.”

She backed out of the room for a minute and returned a few seconds later with two sandwiches and two glasses of iced tea. Regina set down the plate of sandwiches and drinks and picked up Emma’s legs. The brunette sat down and resituated Emma’s feet in her lap. She reached for the plate of sandwiches and one of the glasses of tea. Regina set the plate in the middle of Emma’s legs, balancing it carefully before handing Emma the glass of tea.

Emma took it gratefully, smiling widely. She took a drink and smacked her lips. Even Regina’s tea was better than normal. She reached for one of the sandwiches on the plate in front of her.

Regina took her own sandwich, taking a bite and swallowing, face thoughtful. “I did tell Henry to be home by noon like normal, didn’t I?”

Emma nodded. “At least I think so. I was a little too far gone at that point to be sure.”

Regina snorted. “Well, in any case it’s five after.”

“Call the kid, maybe he lost track of time. He could be on his way home now, too. Hell, maybe he’s being a normal thirteen year old and is still asleep.” Emma shrugged.

“Alright, I’ll call him when I’m done.” She nodded and took another bite from her sandwich. Emma followed Regina’s tongue as Regina licked the crumbs off her lip.

“The kid probably got my sense of time management.” Emma laughed and brushed a few crumbs off her stomach.

“What sense of time management, darling?”

“Exactly.”

Regina glared at her fondly. “At least you admit to your faults.”

Both of them perked up as they heard the front door open and close and the signature thump of Henry throwing off his shoes in the foyer. Probably in a messy heap that would draw Regina’s ire later. Emma gave the kid points for trying at least. Regina wasn’t so forgiving.

“Henry?” Regina asked, swallowing another bite of sandwich.

Henry appeared in the doorway. “Yeah, Mom?”

“You’re a little late, dear.” Regina looked at him disapprovingly.

“Sorry, the last level of the new Avenger’s game took longer than I thought it was going to.” Henry shuffled his feet.

“That’s fine, dear, just make sure you keep a better eye on the time next time, ok?”

“Sure.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Nah, Nicholas and I ate breakfast like an hour ago.”

“Ok, dear, just let me know if you would like anything.” Regina smiled warmly.

Henry nodded and turned and left the room, thundering up the stairs a second later.

“How did we luck out and get such a good kid?” Emma asked, polishing off the last of the sandwich.

“I’m not sure, Emma, but I’m so glad we did.” Regina grabbed the plate off of Emma’s legs and set it on the table. She lifted the blanket off of Emma’s legs and crawled up beside the blonde, tucking herself into Emma’s side.

Emma sighed and wrapped an arm around Regina’s shoulders and rested her head against the other woman’s. Regina settled the blanket across their legs again and snuggled further into Emma.

“I’m glad I have you too,” Emma said quietly.

Regina squeezed her tightly. “Thank you Emma. I thank every supernatural being I can think of everyday that I have you, as well.”

They snuggled like that for a few minutes, basking in one another’s presence. Emma eventually turned and looked down at Regina. Regina looked back at her questioningly.

“Regina, you forgot to grab the remote.”

Regina rolled her eyes and slapped Emma’s arm lightly. “You just had to go and ruin the moment didn’t you, dear?”

Emma shrugged. “It’s what I’m good at.”

Regina snuggled into her side again. “True, but I love you anyway.”

Emma lifted a hand to stoke Regina’s hair lightly. “I love you, too.”

Henry appeared in the doorway again a little while later. “Are you guys busy? Can I watch TV? There’s this new special on the History Channel about knights in the middle ages that I want to watch. It comes on in a couple minutes.

Emma and Regina drew up their legs in unison. “Go ahead kid, grab a seat.”

“Cool.” Henry flopped down on the newly revealed seat and grabbed the remote. A second later the History Channel started playing.

Emma counted slowly to see how long it was before the program on screen mentioned aliens. She made it thirty seconds and snorted.

“Counting to see how long it takes for someone to mention aliens again?” Regina mumbled against her chest.

“Maybe.” Emma drew out the word in a sing song voice.

Regina chuckled quietly and went back to watching the screen. They all sat together quietly watching the TV in front of them until Henry’s knight program came on. Henry sat up attentively eyes never leaving the screen. A few minutes in even Regina was engrossed. Emma only felt Regina’s eye lashes brush the skin on her chest a few times a minute. Emma herself couldn’t get into the program. It wasn’t something she was interested in, nor particularly wanted to know about. Too many people wanted her to be the savior, the white knight. She didn’t want any more knowledge that might convince people that she was taking that title seriously.

Instead, Emma let her thoughts wander. What she had to do at the station the next day, how she had to pick up Regina’s dry cleaning because of that stupid bet, what was for dinner, the woman in her arms, the kid at the end of the couch so eager to learn, anything and everything. She was warm, content, and happy. God, she had been happy for so long she found it unbelievable. 

She kept running her hand through Regina’s short hair. She wanted to feel happy like this for the rest of her life. She wanted to grow old with Regina, make love to her at every available opportunity, help her raise Henry, send him off to college, watch him raise a family of his own, play with their grandkids with Regina at her side, tease Regina when she slipped them more sweets than strictly necessary, tell her she loved her whenever she felt the urge, hold her every night until end came. She wanted it so bad that it was a physical ache in her chest. She would do anything to keep this family of hers.

She glanced down at Regina. Regina’s eyes were still glued to the TV. The woman was a goddess even on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It should be a crime, but as long as she benefitted from it, it would never be illegal on her watch. God, she wanted to be there every day just to stare at her perfection. Regina was perfect in every way. Someday Emma would make her realize that.

Emma gasped lightly. She knew what she had to do. A smile lit her face. She would propose to Regina. She would promise to spend the rest of her life with the woman in her arms. She would get to do all the things she wanted to do. She would get to show Regina that she was someone who deserved to be loved. She would propose to her. And she would do it so perfectly that Regina would see just how amazing she was.

She squeezed Regina tighter and finally brought her eyes to the TV screen. She would start planning tomorrow. Emma felt butterflies fill her stomach.

She couldn’t wait.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma realizes she has no idea what she's doing and seeks help.

Emma paced the Sheriff’s Station. The problem with planning a perfect proposal was you actually had to know how to plan a proposal period. Emma had absolutely no freaking clue what to do. She knew there was a ring. She knew there was a romantic and vaguely cheesy speech. She knew the proposal came after something romantic like a really fancy dinner or something. But that was all she knew, and she learned all of that from movies. She really didn’t want to plan her proposal to Regina based off of crappy Rom-coms.

And it wasn’t like she even knew how to plan that sort of cheesy proposal even if that _was_ what she wanted to do. The most romantic she ever got was flowers and chocolate. How the hell was she supposed to plan this? How the hell was she supposed to make everything worthy of Regina when she had no clue what she was really doing?

God, she needed help. But who did she know that would even know how to help her? Ruby wasn’t married and was more of a seductive person than a romantic person. Archie was single as the day was long. Henry was 13. Granny would probably suggest to propose by crossbow. She groaned and walked over to the wall and banged her head against it. Who the hell in this town actually knew anything that would actually help?

She stood up straight. She could have hit herself. Duh. Her fucking parents were the paragon of true love. She could ask her father how he proposed. Surely that would help her. They were the only ones that could help that she could think of anyway. She swallowed hard. She really hoped this worked out.

Emma glanced up at the clock. It was close enough to lunch time to justify leaving. She grabbed her leather jacket and strode out the door.

 

Emma walked into her parent’s apartment a few minutes later. Her father was sitting on the couch munching on a bowl of cereal and watching TV happily. He smiled up at Emma as she shut the door behind her, a drop of milk trailing from the corner of his mouth down his chin.

“Hey, Dad,” Emma said, flopping down on the couch.

David swallowed and wiped away the drop of milk. “Hey, Emma.  
 He squinted. “Aren’t you on shift right now?”

Emma shrugged. “Lunch break.”

David nodded understandingly. The father and daughter shared a love of food. “Ah, well, all we really have is cereal, but you’re welcome to it. Snow has to go to the store after school today.”

“Cereal’s good enough.” Emma got up and fixed herself a bowl and sat back down beside her father.

They spent a few minutes eating silently together, both staring at the TV. Emma didn’t really absorb anything that was going on. She thought it was a cop show, but she wasn’t really sure. Her mind was on other things like what exactly to ask her father. She wondered if there was any way to phrase her question so that her father wouldn’t freak out. In the three years since she and Regina had gotten together, her parents’ relationship with the other woman had gotten better, but it was by no means cozy. No matter what this was going to cause somewhat of a stir.

“So, um, how exactly did you propose to Mom?” she asked, diving in head first.

“It was sort of a spur of the moment thing, really. She already had my mother’s ring, we’d already been through a lot together, and I just asked her to spend the rest together with me.”

“So no big romantic gestures or anything?”

“Well, we sort of were fugitives from both Regina and King George, so no. There wasn’t really time.”

“What would you have done if there was time?”

David scratched the back of his head. “I’m not sure. I mean even though it was rushed and spur of the moment, the way I proposed to her was sort of perfect for us. I guess I’d take her out and do something she really loved and then have dinner somewhere and propose to her.” He shrugged. “Moot point now.”

Emma nodded, biting her lip and scowling.

“Why? Why the sudden interest?”

Emma looked down at the table, feeling a blush rise on her cheeks. “I have no idea how to propose except for that cheesy shitty way they always do in the movies. And that’s not what I want to do, so I was looking for advice.”

“You’re going to propose…to Regina?”

“Well, yeah, who else?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Emma rubbed her hands across her face. “I don’t even know where to start. I mean the ring is the obvious place. I need it before I can do anything else, but I have no fucking clue about anything.”

“Well, I hear circular rings are quite popular.”

Emma glared over at her father.

David had his face towards the floor, mirroring her earlier position. He shuffled his feet on the floor slightly. The discomfort radiated off of him in waves.

Emma’s face softened a little. “No, I was going to get her a square one.” The bite was still there, but less than it normally would have been. “God, I don’t even know anything about jewelry. I don’t know if I should go with a diamond or something else. And like cuts? Jesus Christ, this is all so complicated.”

“Uh, diamonds are good? And I think hearts are pretty popular? Um, I don’t know. I sort of already had my ring. I know even less than you do.”

Emma sighed. “Well, it was worth a try.”

“Yeah.” David shrugged. “Isn’t there a saying here about diamonds being a girl’s best friend? And that the bigger they are, the better.”

“Regina’s definitely a woman, and I’m not sure she’d be inclined to agree that bigger is better. Skill is better than size.” Emma smirked.

David glanced at her quickly and then looked anywhere else but her, blushing.

“So, um, your mother is going to be back later after school and grocery shopping. Why don’t you try asking her? I think she’d have a much better idea of what you should do.” David coughed awkwardly.

Emma stood up and grabbed both the empty bowls and walked to the sink, rinsing them out. “Sure, Dad. Thanks for trying to help anyway.” She walked back to the couch and gave him a one armed hugged before walking towards the door. “I’ll see if I can come over later. If not I’ll text Mom or something.”

Charming nodded. “Ok.”

“Bye Dad, thanks for the cereal.”

“Bye.”

Emma glanced back as she was closing the door and saw David collapse back into the couch and rub his hands over his face. Emma lightly shrugged. It could have gone worse.

 

Emma pulled up to the curb outside the middle school just as the bell rang. Kids burst out of the front door a few moments later.  Emma sat in her Bug, waiting for a mop of familiar dark hair to appear in the crowd. A couple minutes later Henry loped out the door. She smiled as she saw Henry stop for a minute to talk to Paige. Even from down the street she could tell he was fumbling for the right thing to say.

Emma smiled widely. It was clear that the kid hadn’t inherited Neal’s charm and effortless swagger with women. Or at least he hadn’t yet. Emma laughed softly. This awkward fumbling was just so much cuter to watch. He’d get it right eventually, but for now she’d enjoy the show.

Henry turned away from Paige, positively beaming. He started to walk towards home, but a honk from Emma’s horn caused him to look up. Emma waved him over. The kid walked towards her, eyebrow cocked in a mirror image of Regina.

“Ma? I thought I told you guys that I’m old enough to walk myself home.”

“I know kid, but get in, we’re going on a road trip.”

Henry titled his head towards the side. “Why? Where are we going? You didn’t say anything about going anywhere earlier.”

“Because it wasn’t planned earlier.”

Henry shrugged and got in. “Alright, so where are we going?”

“Next town over.” Emma pulled out and started driving.

“Johnson City is like forty five minutes away. Why are we going there?”

“Because kid.”

“You aren’t trying to run away are you?” Henry scrutinized her face carefully, looking for signs of anything wrong.

Emma laughed. “No, kid. The opposite actually.”

“You’re talking like Mr. Gold when he wants to make a deal.”

“I’m not screwing anyone over, though.”

“Ma.” Henry looked at her flatly.

Emma took a deep breath. “Ok, kid, so here’s the deal. I’m going to propose to your mom. And I sort of, maybe, need your help picking out a ring. Because honestly, kid, you have a better idea than I do what she likes sometimes. And I really, _really_ want to get this right.”

Henry perked up and smiled. “Finally.”

“What do you mean, finally?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to propose to mom since like six months after you started dating her.”

Emma swiveled to look at her son. “What? Really?” She turned back to watch the road in front of them.

“Duh. Have you seen the way you look at her? Jesus, Ma, you look at her like she’s made of spun gold or something. You’ve been head over heels in love with her since before the curse broke. Why you waited so long to propose I’ll never know. You guys are true loves for god’s sake. It’s not like you don’t know if you’re right for each other or something.”

“I-just-shut up kid, you aren’t allowed to know more about my relationship than I do. And don’t let your mother catch you talking like that. I don’t want to get murdered for ‘being a bad influence on your vocabulary.’”

Henry shot her a look that just screamed ‘do I look that stupid?’

“But really, kid, I didn’t even really think about proposing ‘til yesterday. Like the thought literally didn’t occur to me.”

“You went for three years. And never thought about proposing? Wow, Ma, maybe Mom’s quips at your intelligence aren’t so far off,” Henry deadpanned.

“You know I have the power to ground you, right?”

Henry rolled his eyes.

“How the hell you ended up as such a little clone of Regina, I’ll never fucking know.”

“Mom says I’m your clone when I annoy her.”

Emma snorted. “She would.” She glanced at Henry. “So are you going to help me or not, kid? It can be like another secret mission or something, because I think I’m going to need more help than just picking out the ring, you know. It just has to be perfect.”

“A secret mission?! Can I name it?”

“Only if you promise to help me and I get veto power over the name. Seriously, Henry, Cobra?”

“I was ten, ma. Give me a break.”

“Never.”

Henry sighed heavily. “Fine. How about Operation…Hera.”

“Hera? What the hell, kid?”

“She’s the Greek goddess of marriage.” The duh at the end of the sentence was heavily implied.

“Oh, but doesn’t you Mom know that?”

“Good point.” Henry sat in thought for a little while. “I’ve got it! Operation Jasmine.”

“Like from Aladdin?” Emma’s face scrunched.

“No, like the flower.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because it means eternal love.”

Emma looked over at Henry, disbelieving. “Why the hell do you know that, kid?”

Henry shrugged, blushing wildly. “No reason.”

“Has someone been looking up flower meanings for a special someone?” Emma asked in a sing-song voice.

“NO!” Henry vehemently denied.

Emma snorted and started laughing so hard tears ran down her face. “Kid, the trick with denying something like that is to play it cool, not shout like you’re at a football game. So, is it Paige?”

“Ma!”

Emma laughed harder. “What, Henry, she’s cute.”

“ _Ma!_ ”

Emma kept laughing, wiping the tears from her eyes periodically so she could see to drive. “Sorry kid, I have to get my entertainment somewhere.”

Henry glared at her.

“Just remember this the next time you taunt me about not proposing to your mother after six months.”

Henry harrumphed and crossed his arms. “Fine. What’s your cover story for this trip anyway?”

“Taking you to the comic store to get that one Iron Man comic that Storybrooke doesn’t have.”

Henry shrugged. “Cool, but do you think she’ll buy it?”

“You got your report card today didn’t you?”

Henry swallowed. “Yeah.”

“What’d you get?”

“Um.”

Emma twisted to look at Henry. “Don’t tell me you’re starting to take after me after all these years.”

“Well, algebra is hard.”

“What’d you get?”

“A B.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “For fuck’s sake kid, with the way you were sounding I thought you were going to say you failed. A B is not a bad grade. You’re in an advanced high school level class. I know you went for tutoring after school; I picked you up from it enough times. Did you try to get some extra credit?”

“Well, yeah, duh.”

“And let me guess, you had an A until the last minute, didn’t you?”

Henry twisted his hands. “Yeah.”

“Shit, kid, sometimes things like that happen. And you tried damn hard. I failed algebra twice. So you’re doing fine and as long as you keep trying hard that deserves its reward, alright?”

Henry nodded. “Thanks.”

Emma reached out and ruffled Henry’s hair. “Of course, kid, I have to get my mothering in there somewhere.”

Henry snorted. “Yeah, Ma.” Henry paused a minute. “Wait, you could say that you wanted to cheer me up because I worked so hard but didn’t get the grade I wanted and I was really upset.”

Emma smirked. “That’s close enough to the truth, it just might work.”

Henry smiled. “Yeah, plus I get a comic out of it.”

“Little shit, maybe you are my son.” Emma shook her head fondly.

 

Thirty minutes later they arrived in Johnson City. A few more minutes and turns later and they pulled up to the jewelry store that Emma had looked up on Google. God bless Google. It saved her ass multiple times, this time included. Anywhere was better than going to Gold for an engagement ring. Smug bastard would have lorded it over her or totally blown the secret.

The store in front of her was both not owned by Gold and suited Regina’s general style better than the other two located in the town. Or so Emma thought anyway. She really hoped she was right.

“Ready kid?” She asked, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“Yeah.” He looked at her like she was a little crazy.

“Alright,” Emma sat there for another few moments, taking a few deep breaths.

“Ma, you’re buying a ring. You aren’t facing a dragon or anything.”

“Kid, that might scare me a bit less.”

The look on his face morphed from ‘you’re a little crazy’ to ‘you’re fucking insane.’ “You really need to sort out your priorities.”

“I have my priorities right where they should be. You and your mom are the most important things in my life. I really don’t want to fuck this up, Henry.”

“Well, the thing that will screw this up fastest is not having a ring. So let’s go.”

“Alright.”

Henry just looked at her.

“I mean it this time.” Emma opened up her door and stepped out into the Maine cold. She puffed out a breath, watching it float away on the wind. She could do this.

She started walking across the street, Henry at her side. The shop in front of her was small, but located in good area. It was surrounded by other eclectic shops and small designer boutiques. The jewelry shop itself was on the eclectic side. Not exactly Regina’s usual style, but something about the shop had just called out to her on the internet. There was nothing wrong with checking it out she assured herself.

Emma stood outside the door for a few seconds before Henry pushed past her and barged into the store, setting off a soft chime. She swallowed and followed her son. The inside of the shop was filled with display cases that were filled with pieces both large and small. The walkways between the cases were narrow enough that she could just walk side by side with Henry. She felt more than a little claustrophobic.

She shook herself. She needed to look at rings. Emma looked around seeing if she could easily spot what she wanted. Everything was in a jumble it seemed. Necklaces with earrings, watches with rings, tie pins with bracelets, and everything in-between. Emma sighed. She’d be here for a little while.

Emma started to wander around, looking closely at everything. Nothing here screamed Regina. Perhaps she had picked the wrong store. She ran her hands through her hair. She might as well look at everything while she was here though just in case.

She kept walking around, methodically making sure she looked at every case. Henry was doing the same, not pleased by anything he saw either. Emma had to admit the jewelry here was pretty and looked well-made and was definitely unique, it just wasn’t…right.

_“Regina likes simple things,”_ Daniel thought at her. _“Just get her a simple gold band, Emma, she’ll love it.”_

Emma scowled. _“Shut up, lover boy. You get no input on this, you’re dead.”_

_“But—”_

Emma shoved him into the back of her mind, effectively shutting him up. She didn’t know why he still tried to but in after all these years. She wasn’t him. He didn’t seem to get that.

Emma shook her head and kept looking.

Emma sighed as she reached the last case. At least she could move on now that everything was looked at. She turned to call to Henry when something in the corner of the case caught her eye. It was a ring, white gold with small diamonds surrounding a centerpiece made out of what looked like sapphire and amethyst. She snapped back around and crouched down to look at it closer.

The sapphire and amethyst were cut in a strange fashion, round and one end and narrowing to a point that wrapped around the round end of the other stone. It almost looked like a yin and yang symbol. The setting itself gripped the stones securely, the white metal making the color more intense.

She looked down at her hands. Back in Storybrooke they would be glowing the same clear blue of the sapphire. But magic wasn’t possible here, so her hands stayed normal. Emma was willing to bet her life that the amethyst would match the color of Regina’s magic perfectly. And yin and yang represented balance. Regina was her balance.

The ring was perfect.

“Henry,” she breathed.

Henry appeared at her side a second later. “Yeah?”

She pointed. “What do you think of that one?”

Henry’s eyes widened slightly. “I think she’ll like it.”

“You really think so?” She turned to look at him hopefully.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Emma smile lit up her whole face. “Good, kid, I think so too.”

She stood up and looked around the tiny shop. There was no one to be seen, but there was a bell by the cash register. Emma walked over and hit it, the ring echoed slightly around the store. A second later an older woman appeared from a door that Emma hadn’t even seen.

“Hello,” the woman said, smiling, lighting up her tan face.

“Hi.” Emma smiled back.

“Can I help you with anything?”

“Uh, yeah, actually. Um, the ring over in that case.” Emma pointed to the last one the ring was in.

The woman strode over and unlocked the case, standing behind it and looking at Emma expectantly.

Emma walked over and pointed at the ring. “Yeah that one. I, uh, I’m proposing to my girlfriend. I think she’d love it.”

The woman smiled. “Certainly an interesting choice. Very…unique.”

“She’s a very special woman. I’m not exactly sure she’d go for heart shaped diamonds.” Emma shrugged.

“Nor should she.” The woman drew a sheet from the case and looked down at it, consulting it. “The ring is 5500 dollars, with sales tax it’s 5750. And since we are a small store we don’t do financing ourselves. I’m sorry for that inconvenience.”

Emma swallowed hard. She had a thousand dollars on her. And very, very shitty credit score left over from her first days out of jail. She was going to have to earn the money herself. But with Regina’s still slashed salary at home she could only set aside two hundred a month. Emma did the math quickly. At that rate it would take her two years to earn the money.

Tears pricked at her eyes. Damn it the perfect thing was literally right in front her and she couldn’t fucking get it because she wasn’t rich enough. God, wasn’t that the story of her life.

Emma looked down. It would take her two years. Unless she got a second job. Emma smiled. With a job as a bartender she could probably make the money she needed in a couple of months.

“I, uh, don’t have that much money right now. Is there any way I could like, put it on layaway or something?” Emma asked, looking at the ring.

“I can put it on hold for you for three months. After that it’s fair game again.”

Emma nodded. She could work with that. She would have to bust her ass for tips, but she’d done it before, she could do it again. Anything for Regina.

“That sounds good,” Emma finally said.

“Good, good. Let me go get the paperwork.” The woman bustled off.

Ten minutes later the paperwork was done and Emma was floating out of the store on cloud nine. She had done it. She had found the perfect ring. She was one step closer to being able to propose to Regina, to being able to spend the rest of her life with the woman she loved. She sighed happily. So what if she would be working doubles for the next few months. It would be so worth it. Now if she was lucky everything would fall together this perfectly.

Her cell phone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered it as she slid into the Bug.

“Hello,” she said, slightly dreamily.

“Emma! Henry isn’t at home. Oh god, Emma you have to find him! I called all of his usual hang outs just to make sure he hadn’t forgotten to tell me he was going out, but no one has seen him. Emma, you have to find him!” A hysterical Regina sobbed on the other end of the line.

Emma swallowed hard. She had forgotten to tell Regina about the impromptu road trip. Shit. She was in so much fucking trouble when she got home she could taste it. Her good mood deflated instantly.

“Um, I already know where Henry is, Regina.” Emma’s voice was weak. 

“Oh thank god. Where are you? I checked the station, but you weren’t there. Are you on patrol with Henry?”

“Uh, something like that?”

Regina paused for a moment. “Miss Swan, what aren’t you telling me?”

“We’re kind of in Johnson City?” Emma’s voice rose at the end making everything a question.

“Why are you in Johnson City, Sheriff? And why didn’t you tell me you were going?”

Oh shit, Sheriff. She was in more trouble than she thought.

“I forgot? And Henry got his report card today, and you know how hard the kid’s been working in algebra, but he didn’t get the grade he wanted and he was really upset so I decided to take him to get the Iron Man comic that the shop in Storybrooke didn’t have to cheer him up. I’m really sorry Regina. I didn’t mean to cause you to panic I just—my head wasn’t screwed on right today, I guess.” If Emma had been in front of the woman she would’ve been on her knees begging.

“Where are you now, Sheriff?” Regina’s voice was cold metal.

Emma swallowed hard. “We just got out of the comic shop and we’re walking to get something to eat?”

“You will be home within the hour. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good, I will see you at home, Sheriff. Do _not_ keep me waiting.”

The line went dead. Emma drew back the phone and stared at it. Henry looked over at her, worriedly.

“Kid, we have to get to the comic shop, like now.” Emma started the Bug and floored it.

“What’s wrong? That was Mom, wasn’t it?”

“No, Henry, that was the Evil Queen. And when we get home I think she’s going to kill me and resurrect me just to kill me again.”

“You didn’t tell her we were going, did you?”

“It slipped my mind?”

“You’re in deep shit.”

“Kid, that might be the understatement of the century.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma realizes just how much trouble she's in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! So, for those of you not particular to smut, skip from when Regina shows up to the next break and you'll be good. Enjoy.

_“You didn’t tell her we were going, did you?”_

_“It slipped my mind?”_

_“You’re in deep shit.”_

_“Kid, that might be the understatement of the century.”_

They went to the comic store and made it home in less than forty-five minutes. Emma thanked every God known to man that there was almost nothing between Storybrooke and Johnson City. That meant no cops between here and there. And that meant Emma was free to break every single speed limit posted along the way. Which she had proceeded to do after a quick warning to Henry that if she ever caught him driving like she was that she would revoke his license on the spot.

Emma pulled up to the mansion and took a deep breath. “Kid, I just want you to know if I don’t make it out that I love you.”

“Ma, you’re being overdramatic. She’ll yell and make you sleep on the couch or something.” Henry rolled his eyes.

“What ever happened to the kid who thought your mom was the absolute incarnation of evil?”

“You did. The amount of lectures I got was ridiculous.”

“Fair point, but you know how she calls you by all of your names when she’s mad and you fear for your life?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, that’s how I feel when she calls me Sheriff.”

“You realize you’re only making it worse sitting here, right?”

“Probably.”

Henry snorted and got out of the car.

Emma hesitated a second and then followed.

When they both walked in the house was quiet, almost eerily so. Emma gulped. She could deal with loud, mouthy Regina. That was normal. Quiet Regina…that was a different story.

“Kid, go up to your room for a while, ok?”

Henry looked at her. “Alright, but I’m starving, Ma.”

Emma nodded. “I’m sure your Mom will feed you something soon. Don’t be surprised if it’s me on a plate trussed up like a pig with an apple in my mouth or something.”

“Cool.” Henry pounded up the stairs. A second later his door clicked shut.

Emma stepped out her boots and slowly put them in their assigned spot. She looked around, trying to figure out just where Regina was. She walked forward quietly, going from room to room, trying to find her girlfriend.

“Regina?” she called.

But the woman was nowhere to be found. Emma sighed. Where the hell was she? Emma stood alone in the study and scratched her head.

Arms wrapped around her middle from behind. “Hello, Sheriff,” Regina purred into her ear. The door clicked shut behind her.

Emma jumped slightly. “Th-there you are, Regina.”

“Mmm.” Regina tightened her grip and pressed herself into Emma’s back.

“Um, listen…” Emma trailed off at the feeling of Regina sweeping her hair aside and kissing up her neck. This was not the reaction she was expecting. She wasn’t complaining. Not one single bit.

Regina’s hands slid up her front and cupped her breasts, squeezing them gently. Emma’s nipples instantly responded, hardening quickly.

“Regina—”

One hand left her breast and trailed down her side. Regina stepped back just enough to let her hand between them, caressing her lower back lightly.

Emma hummed her approval. Maybe Regina would just fuck out her anger. It had happened before. And it had been wonderful. Emma shut her eyes and leaned her head back on Regina’s shoulder.

Regina took advantage of her more exposed neck, licking and sucking, leaving marks over the ones fading from two days before. Emma moaned. God, this was so much better than she had thought. Maybe she should make Regina this angry more often.

Regina’s hands slid under her shirt and skirted across bare skin. Emma shivered. She was so very hot and Regina’s hands felt like a cool breeze caressing her skin.

Emma needed to touch the brunette. She tried to turn, but Regina stopped her, locking Emma in place with her arms. Emma huffed her disapproval, but didn’t fight.

Regina continued her assault, hands everywhere, mouth warm and hot on anything she could reach for a few more minutes. The combined feeling was overwhelming. Regina knew just where to touch her to drive her wild. God, she needed her right now.

“Please, Regina,” she whined.

Regina chuckled and turned so her mouth was planted firmly on Emma’s. The brunette dominated the kiss, with more teeth than tongue and lips. One extra firm nip drew blood. Regina lapped it up and Emma almost swooned.

Regina’s hand slowly lowered to Emma’s jeans, expertly opening them while her mouth was busy drawling inhuman noises from Emma. A hand slid inside, slipping easily below Emma’s underwear and progressing to where Emma so desperately needed to be touched. Regina’s nimble fingers parted Emma and stroked lightly a few times, purposely avoiding her clit. Emma groaned into Regina’s mouth. She couldn’t take being teased right now.

Regina pulled her mouth from Emma’s. Emma flopped her head back fully onto Regina’s shoulder, unable to support it anymore. Regina lowered her mouth to Emma’s ear, breath tickling the fine hair there. Emma gasped at the feeling.

Regina’s fingers trailed lower and slipped inside her. Emma moaned in satisfaction. The other woman started pumping in and out of her as much as Emma’s tight jeans would allow. Emma bit her lip and turned more into Regina’s neck.

“You think it is ok to just run off with our son, Sheriff?” Regina whispered in her ear.

“N-no,” Emma gasped out.

“No, you don’t get to talk right now.”

Emma nodded weakly and swallowed. She couldn’t stop herself from making little noises as Regina’s fingers still pumped in and out of her.

“You scared me, Sheriff. I do not like surprises. Do you know what happens when I am surprised? Bad things, Sheriff. Like your punishment.”

Regina corkscrewed her fingers. Emma whimpered. She was so close.

“Do you know what your punishment is?”

Regina nibbled on Emma’s earlobe. Her fingers were driving in and out of Emma at a punishing pace. Emma could feel the muscles in her stomach tighten in preparation for the oncoming wave of pleasure.

Suddenly, Regina’s fingers stilled inside her. Emma groaned loudly.

“You don’t get any sex until I see fit, Sheriff.” Regina slipped her fingers out of Emma and stepped back. “And if you even so much as _think_ about touching yourself, your punishment will only last longer.”

Regina swept out of the study, leaving a dazed and extremely frustrated Emma in her wake.

This was so much worse than expected. 

 

Emma knocked on Henry’s door an hour later. “Kid, your Mom’s done with dinner.”

The door opened a second later. “So, I didn’t hear any yelling and you’re still alive and obviously not dinner. So, it wasn’t that bad?”

Emma snorted. “The yelling would have been preferable, Kid. I can handle yelling. This was different. She wasn’t yelling, but that made it worse.”

“What’d she do? Are you on the couch for the next month or something?”

“Uh, no, kid. Trust me it’s worse. And trust me, you don’t want to know.” Emma rubbed the back of her neck.

Henry’s eyes widened. “Jesus, Ma.”

“What?”

Henry looked at her. “You should have just told me you were banished to the couch or something.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” And Emma really didn’t. Henry had made a jump from A to C while her brain wasn’t even on B yet.

“You only say I don’t want to know when it involves you and Mom _together_.” Henry’s face scrunched up in disgust.

Emma ran her hands over her face. Oh. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about Henry. But you were the one who was staving earlier. Go. Food. Dinner.”

“Whatever, Ma. Just next time make something up, Jesus.” Henry tromped down the stairs.

Emma groaned and followed her son.

The table was already set and the food laid out when they both got there. Regina emerged from the kitchen carrying their respective drinks. The brunette handed Emma a glass of wine before sitting at her normal spot. Emma sat down beside her and looked at the food at the table. Her head tilted towards the side.

“Uh, Regina…what in the world did you make?” Emma asked.

“Oh, yes, well I thought that as a family we might try to eat more healthy food. So I made chicken with wheatgrass purée and steamed asparagus and quinoa.”

Emma and Henry made identical looks of disgust. None of that sounded like _anything_ they wanted to eat. Both of them stared at the serving dishes like they were about to crawl off the table under their own power.

“Well, go ahead, dig in.” Regina smiled at both of them.

Emma turned towards Regina, eyes begging her to reconsider. A smirk ghosted across Regina’s face. Oh god, it was going to be even _worse_ than no sex. It was going to be no sex _and_ healthy food. Emma was going to die. And Regina would know if she went behind her back to get a cheeseburger at Granny’s. She was going to _die_.

Emma reached out and grabbed the nearest bowl to her and pulled it towards her, nose crinkled. She needed to eat. There was no other source of food. And maybe if she played along with Regina’s game she would get back their normal, still very healthy, but actually tasty and palatable food, sooner. That didn’t mean she had to like playing along though.

She scooped some asparagus onto her plate, dropping them like they were some sort of disgustingly mutated being. God, she hated asparagus. Regina _knew_ that. Why, oh, why had she pushed the buttons of the most vindictive woman she knew? Was she stupid?

Emma looked over at Regina. Yeah, she was stupid. Stupid for the woman sitting beside her. She loved Regina too much to think straight most days.

She sighed and went for the platter of chicken, putting down a piece covered in what looked like radioactive waste. If she could get through years of foster moms’ cooking she could get through this. No matter how unappealing the ingredients were themselves, Regina was still an amazing cook.  It wasn’t as bad as it could be.

Emma took a bite of her food reluctantly and winced slightly. The chicken was good. The wheatgrass? Not so much. She fought the urge to gag. Still she choked down the rest of it. Complaining would not get her anywhere right now.

The three of them ate the rest of their dinner, talking quietly about their days. The whole time Regina smirked lightly. Henry kept glaring at Emma through the meal. His look screamed ‘this is all your fault.’ Emma shot him back a look that said ‘I know’ and kept choking down her food.

 

Later Emma lay in bed, waiting for Regina to come out of the bathroom and slide in beside her. Her hands were behind her head and she stared at the ceiling. Well, first day of proposal planning hadn’t gone too well. She sighed heavily. She really hoped that everything else went better. She wanted this to be perfect. So far it wasn’t anywhere close.

The bathroom door opened and Regina padded to their bed. The brunette slipped under the covers and curled up completely on her side of the bed, turning her back to Emma. She barely even spared a glance at Emma.

Emma frowned. She couldn’t sleep without Regina in her arms anymore. The warmth of the other woman comforted her in a way nothing else did. She scooted closer to Regina and laid a hand on Regina’s arm.

“Regina…I know I said I was sorry earlier, and I know you can’t do shit with sorry, but I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I just—I still don’t really know what to do with Henry sometimes. I just want everything to be perfect for him because he works so hard to get everything he wants and when he keeps being denied…I just don’t know what to do. I just want to make sure he’s happy and ok and that made me scatter brained today. I literally just did the first thing that came to mind and I wasn’t even thinking of the consequences.” Emma had the feeling she wasn’t just talking about Henry right then. Everything she had said about him applied to the woman on the other side of the bed, as well.

 She continued, “If I had been all there today I would have called you, for sure. Hell, I probably would have invited you along. I don’t ever want to make you feel like you aren’t part of a family, because Regina you are my family. So, I’m just really sorry. I just—this family makes me so happy and I want to do everything I can to make you both happy for the rest of our lives.” Emma let out a heavy breath and scooted back from Regina.

Regina turned over and looked at her. A tan arm reached out and grabbed Emma stopping Emma’s progress back to her side of the bed. Warm brown eyes met Emma’s, open and honest with her like they were with no one else.

“You do make me happy, Emma. But the fact is you did make me feel like you were taking Henry and yourself away from me and making a break for it. It’s going to take more than a very heartfelt and probably valid apology for me to forgive you for that. So my earlier words still stand.”

Emma looked down but nodded. She understood in a way. Regina needed to feel like she was in control again and to do that Emma needed to learn a lesson, but she wished there was another way that Regina could think of than the one she’d come up with.

Regina surprised her back scooting even closer to Emma and snuggling into her arms. Emma’s body lost all tension as Regina’s body settled against hers. She never felt more safe than she did holding or being held by Regina.

Emma looked down at the smaller woman. Her perfect, beautiful, still slightly broken, sarcastic, bitchy, wonderful, loving girlfriend. She would do better for her. She would make things right again. And she would make this proposal perfect if it was the last thing she did.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rings cost money so Emma tries to find a second job.

The next day Emma sat in front of her computer at the station, scrolling through various help wanted ads. She scowled. There were a few openings in town that were perfect for what she needed, but at the same time there was no way that Regina wouldn’t find out about her second job if she worked in town. Then she would ask questions about why she needed a second job in the first place, and that would lead to either a fight if Emma tried to lie or Regina finding out about the proposal. Neither of those options were things that Emma wanted to happen.

She sighed and navigated away from Storybrooke’s page on the employment agency’s website and clicked on Johnson City. It was the only other practical option. And even Johnson City wasn’t too practical. An hour and half travel time every day for a second job was going to suck. Even if she sped to and from work it was still going to eat a significant part of her day.

What was she going to tell Regina about all of this anyway? She was going to notice if Emma was away from the house every night. Emma groaned and flopped her head on the desk. This was so complicated.

She picked her head up again. She would worry about this when she actually got a job. There was no point in stressing over it now before it was even an issue. She had some time to come up with something that was plausible. 

Her eyes started scanning the page in front of her for jobs that fit what she wanted. A couple bartender jobs popped up and more than a few waitress positions. Being a waitress was less preferable, less pay and usually suckier tips as well, unless it was an upper scale restaurant. Emma didn’t exactly fit the profile of upper class restaurant waitress, not that there seemed to be any openings at a classier place anyway. She really hoped she’d get one of the bartending jobs. If she practiced and re-perfected her old skills she should be fine. She hoped.

She clicked on the profiles of the bars that needed bartenders and sent in her information. For now that was done. She’d call back in a couple days to check and see if they had gotten everything if they didn’t call her first. Three years experience as a bartender and some acrobatic bartending skills put her ahead of a lot of people. It had the last few times she’d needed job.

Emma bit her lip. She was sure she still knew everything, but practicing definitely wouldn’t hurt. She picked up the phone and dialed Ruby’s number.

A few rings later Ruby answered. “Granny’s Diner!”

“Hey, Rubes, I need a favor.”

“Sure, Em, what’s up?”

“Can you bring over a few empty liquor bottles and a set of shakers? Oh, and a grilled cheese? Please?”

“Sure, Em, but what do you need all of that for?”

“Bring everything to me and I’ll tell you when you get here.”

“Uh, ok. I’ll be there after the lunch rush dies down, ok?”

“That’s great, Rubes. Thanks so much. And the more bottles you can bring the better.”

“Alright, Em, see you then.”

Emma hung up the phone and smiled. Well, that was one thing taken care of, now there were just about fifteen billion things more to go before she could propose to Regina, but it was something. Emma leaned back in her chair and waited for Ruby to get there.

 

Three hours later Ruby walked in carrying a box of clinking bottles with a bag of takeout placed perfectly on top. The wolf set down the box on David’s desk and handed Emma her bag of food. Emma smiled brightly and quickly unpacked her grilled cheese and bit into it. Ruby sat down in the chair across from her and crossed her legs, looking at Emma expectantly.

“So, the reason you need a whole case full of empty bottles and a shaker? Are you going to make some invisible cocktails, Em?” she asked playfully.

“Something like that, actually.”

Ruby’s brows drew together.  “What?”

“I used to be a bartender back before I was a bounty hunter. Easy job to find no matter what town you were in, you know. Well, anyway, I learned how to juggle bottles and do all the fancy flipping and mixing stuff while I was at it. You get bigger tips.” She shrugged. “But I haven’t done it in a while and I wanted to practice.”

“Just out of the blue?” Ruby shot her a disbelieving look.

“Well, no.” Emma sighed. “I need a second job to save up for something and I was thinking of becoming a bartender again.”

“What are you saving up for, Em?”

“I kinda, maybe, am saving up for an engagement ring for Regina.”

Ruby squealed loudly. Emma covered her ears, dropping her grilled cheese on the desk. Ruby launched out of her chair and pulled Emma into a hug.

“Oh, it’s about time! Em, I’m so happy for you!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Thanks, Rubes. But seriously, what is it with everyone saying it’s about time. First the kid, now you. Is everyone going to say that when I tell them?”

“Probably. You guys have been head over heels with each other since like _forever_ , Em.”

“That’s pretty much what the kid said, too.” Emma sighed. “You realize you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone, right? I don’t want Regina to find out beforehand.”

“Oh, of course. I won’t tell a soul.” Ruby mimed zipping up her lips and throwing away the key.

“Yeah, so that’s why the bottles.”

“You’re going to blow them away. Most people around here barely know what’s in a side car.”

“Brandy, lemon juice, and whatever type of orange liqueur the house has.”

“See, exactly.”

Emma snorted. “Thanks for the confidence boost, Rubes. But seriously, later I’m going to need help planning everything and since you already know, I might ask for your help on some things.”

“Of course! I’d love to help.” Ruby smiled widely.

“Thanks, Rubes. You’re probably going to save my life sometime during this whole thing, knowing me.”

Ruby laughed. “Well, maybe, but I’m sure everything will be perfect in the end.”

Emma nodded. “I hope.”

“Anyway, I have to get back to the diner before Granny sends a search party after me. Call me if you need anything else, ok?”

“Sure, see you later Rubes.”

Emma watched as Ruby turned and strode down the hallway. As the door closed behind her Emma turned to the box and stared. Well, now was a good a time as any. She walked over to the box and picked up a bottle and set to work.

 

Four hours later Emma had broken four bottles and was tossing a fifth around with fluid ease. It had taken a little longer than she expected to get her skills back, but it was worth it. Even if she was going to be finding pieces of glass around the station for months to come. It wasn’t like anyone walked around barefoot anyway.

She flipped a bottle behind her back, caught it in the shaker, and set it down on her desk. That was enough practice for now. She could always work on multiple bottle stuff later. Her arms hurt from tossing around the half full bottle anyway. She was definitely going to have to work on her endurance again, but she had a few days. She’d be fine.

 Emma flopped down in her desk chair and rolled over to her computer. There was no real work to do. No one had called in a few days. Pongo hadn’t even escaped in the last week and Mrs. Adelaide’s cat Duchess hadn’t gotten stuck up a tree either. Hell, she had even caught up with all her paperwork last week after all of Regina’s nagging. There was literally nothing to do for the next hour of work. She couldn’t even play paper basketball since it would waste paper and screw Regina’s budget over.

 She sighed and hit the refresh button on her email and hoped something would show up. A new email popped up and Emma sat up straighter. She clicked on it and opened it up, quickly scanning it. A smile bloomed on her face and she bounced slightly up and down in her seat.

“Interview for bartending position” read the subject of the email. She didn’t think she would get a response back so quickly. They had to be desperate for a bartender to be so prompt. That worked out excellently in her favor. Well, at least something was working out to plan.

Emma typed out a reply email quickly and sent it back off. They wanted to do the interview as soon as possible and that was just fine with Emma. She could do it tomorrow as long as she let Regina know she would be gone. She wasn’t going pull another stunt like yesterday anytime soon, even if Henry wasn’t going to be with her this time.

She paced the Sheriff’s station, waiting for a reply. She tried to tell herself that just because they gotten back to her quickly the first time, they didn’t have to be so quick the second time around, but that didn’t stop her from wearing a track in the floor. If she started her job quickly enough she was sure to make the three month deadline for the ring. And if she was on track for that she could start planning everything else that needed to be done…when she actually figured out whatever else needed done. Emma ran her hands through her hair. She really needed to get on that.

Her computer binged after ten minutes of restless pacing. Emma was in the chair in an instant and clicking on the new email. The interview was a go for five the next day. Emma would need to get her father to cover the last hour of her shift, but that was easily accomplished. She felt like dancing around the room. None of her other job searches had gone this smoothly or this quickly before. Then again, after that fiasco with Regina she was due for some good luck. And after that whole saving a town from a curse thing…but that good luck was probably already used when she and Regina fell in love. Emma shrugged. Wherever it came from it was overdue.

David walked in a few minutes later for the late shift. Emma waved from her seat. David smiled at her and flopped in his own desk chair.

“How’s it been?”

“Quieter than an abandoned graveyard. Seriously, it’s been like three days since either of us chased Pongo. I’m beginning to think something is wrong.” Emma laughed lightly.

David joined her. “Yeah, maybe, but it’s not exactly like Storybrooke is a magnet for criminal activity anyway. Without Pongo and Duchess I don’t think we would do anything.”

“Don’t forget Leroy.”

“Ah, how could I forget my favorite dwarf?” David snorted. “But you forget, it’s not a weekend.”

“This is true, but that hasn’t stopped him before.”

“True, but that was before the mines reopened. Say what you want about the man, but he is a very hard worker.”

“And sassy while doing it.” Emma rolled her eyes and laughed. David joined in a second later.

When the laughter died down they sat in silence for a little while, while David got his stuff ready for his shift. Emma sat at her desk and cleaned her gun while she looked on. She hated cleaning the weapon, but she might as well get it out of the way while she had too much time on her hands.

“Hey, Dad?” Emma asked, piecing her gun back together.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you can come in like an hour and half early tomorrow?” Emma asked, looking at him with puppy dog eyes.

“Sure.” He shrugged. “What’s going on with you?”

“Well, yesterday I went to Johnson City to look at rings for Regina and I found the perfect one, but the catch was that it would take over two years for me to save for it. So I have to get a second job and I have an interview set up for tomorrow at five. So, I need you to cover for me.”

David nodded. “Alright. Did you go with my advice about diamonds and hearts?”

Emma tried to hold in a snort but failed. “No, Dad. There are small diamonds on it, but they aren’t the main stone and nothing is heart shaped. Actually the biggest stone is almost in the shape of a yin yang sign.”

“Oh, well. That sounds good too.”

Emma laughed. “It’ll be perfect, as soon as I have the money for it anyway.”

“I’m sure you’ll have it in no time.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Emma stood up and grabbed her coat. The clock had just hit five. “But I’m going to go grab Regina and blow this joint. Have a good shift and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Emma.”

Emma waved and headed up the stairs of Town Hall. 

 

Emma walked into Bubba’s the next day at five on the dot. She would rub it into Regina’s face that she could be on time when she needed to be…except Regina couldn’t know about this particular side trip she was on. Damn, it was such good ammo for the next fight they would inevitably have over her ‘atrocious time keeping abilities,’ too.

She walked up to the bar, looking around for anyone at all. The place was completely dead, but the door had been unlocked. Someone had to be around here somewhere. She shrugged and leaned against the bar. Eventually someone would turn up and talk to her. Until then she turned around and took in the rest of the place. It was your stereotypical small town hick bar, almost the same as any other bar she’d been in except for the added taxidermy scattered around the room. There were a few pool tables at various places and a wall of dartboards at the back. An old jukebox sat in the corner, looking beat up and well used. Booths and tables sat around a medium sized dance floor. And of course the place was dimly lit as all bars were; the brightest lights in the entire room were the neon signs that proclaimed what sort of alcohol was behind the bar. Emma smirked. Bars didn’t change much no matter where you were.

A shuffling behind her alerted her to another person’s presence. Emma turned around again in time to see a scruffy older man walk through a curtain off to the side of the bar. Emma pushed off of the bar and stood up straight. The man turned around and finally saw her. He looked her up and down once before walking towards her.

“You Swan?” he asked shortly.

“Yes, sir.”

“No need for the sir. Name’s Bubba. Don’t got a record do ya?” He crossed his arms and leaned back on one leg.

“Nope.” Not that he would ever know about anyway. Thank god for sealed juvie records.

He nodded. “Good. The computer said you worked at The Drunken Lady in Boston as your most recent bartendin’ job.”

Emma nodded. “Yes.”

“Called the place. Said ya was a fine bartender and hard worker. Sad to see ya go. Weren’t with them long. Said ya became a bounty hunter? What’s a lady like you doin’ bein’ one of those?” Bubba uncrossed his arms and titled his head.

“I’m good at finding people, and it paid better than bartending. But I’m not a bounty hunter anymore. I’m Sheriff now over in Storybrooke.”

“What’re ya doin’ here then?”

“I need some extra money, saving up for something. Being Sheriff isn’t as lucrative as you’d think.”

Bubba nodded. “Didn’t think it would be. So ya aren’t here for the long haul then?”

“Nope, just until I get enough money for what I need.”

“Okay, fair enough. Just give me notice and that’s fine with me. I got left in a rut by my last two bartenders. Just up and left, no notice or nothin’ and within a few days of each other to boot. It’s only been me the past few days. So, how about ya work with me tonight? Ya hold your own, the job is yours for as long as ya want it.”

Emma smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

“Good.”

“Have any sort of dress code?”

Bubba laughed. “No, no. What you’re in is good. No need to wear anythin’ fancy for the people who come in here. They aren’t hard to impress, little lady.”

Emma scowled at the little lady, but nodded anyway. She stripped off her leather jacket and was left in her white tank top and jeans. She made her way behind the bar and started to get a feel for things.

“Ya can stow your jacket and whatever else ya have back in my office for your shifts.” Bubba gestured at the curtained door way he’d come through earlier.

“’kay.” Emma walked in quickly and threw her jacket on a coat rack she saw right inside.

She returned to the bar and continued getting the lay of things. “Any house specialties?”

“Nah, nothin’ fancy here. I’ll get you a list of prices of everythin’ in a minute. It’s pretty standard fair. Mostly you’ll just be pouring beer and Jack.”

Emma picked up a bottle of Jack and a tumbler. She spun the bottle around a few times before pouring a perfect shot and setting the bottle back down again. She turned to Bubba.

“Something like that?”

Bubba laughed once. “Somethin’ like that. My regulars aren’t going to know what hit ‘em.”

Emma smiled smugly. “Impressed people tip better.”

“I bet they do, little lady, I bet they do.” Bubba scrubbed the counter with a rag for a few minutes quietly. “The regulars will start tricklin’ in at about 5:30. It won’t get really busy until eight or nine though.”

Emma nodded. That was standard on a weekday. “Bar’s open every day except for Monday.”

“Alright.” Emma’s face was scrunched trying to memorize exactly where everything was and what drinks she could make with the stock in front of her.

“Inventory is every first Monday, but seein’ as you’ve already got a day job you don’t have to be here.”

“Thanks.”

Bubba was right, they weren’t really outfitted to make much in the way of mixed drinks, but Emma still had some leeway. She could make it work. She could still work her magic with the alcohol in front of her and get enough tips to get Regina the ring she deserved. Emma smiled.

Bubba disappeared and grabbed her a sheet with everything’s price on it. Everything was pretty normally priced. Mixed drinks were six dollars, draft beer was three, bottled was more depending on the brand, shots depended on the alcohol. It was a list she’d seen a thousand times. She’d have it down by the end of the night. She slipped it within easy grabbing distance just in case, though.

Right on time the first of the regulars started to stroll in, greeting Bubba and taking in the new blonde working behind the bar with him. A few nodded at her, the rest ignored her. Bubba walked up to them and called out their orders to Emma. A minute later she sent several different glasses of various draft beers sliding down the counter to their respective orderers. The drinks stopped perfectly in front of the people they were meant for. Everyone glanced up at her, clearly impressed.

Emma shrugged. “Practice makes perfect.”

“Seems like you got a good’un this time, Bubba,” A man in a bright orange hunting cap said.

Bubba nodded. “So I’ve been findin’ out.”

“You don’t know, she could vanish to Boston in two days like those other girls,” the only woman in the group sniped. Her face was scrunched up like she had just smelled something foul.

“Now, now, Melinda, I don’t think she’s the type. Flighty college girls are one thing, I do believe Emma is another.”

Emma blushed slightly. The man had known her for a grand total of half an hour and already he was praising her. Well, hopefully that meant she was keeping the job for sure.

Bubba stayed and talked to the first group of regulars while more people slowly trickled in. She poured their drinks with a little extra flair, but nothing overtly showy. Nonetheless everyone was impressed and she managed to get some decent tips without having to bat her eyes and shamelessly flirt with the men. Not that she wasn’t prepared to do that to get Regina’s ring, but it was better to save that for later on when the mixing tricks weren’t working so well anymore.

All in all the night went well. She made more than enough to make up for the fact that she probably wasn’t getting paid for her labor that night. Emma had to hand it to the people she was serving, they weren’t the prettiest, but they were some of the most generous patrons she’d ever served. Then again it may have been just the novelty of the new girl loosening their wallets. She guessed she’d see as she kept on working.

Two in the morning finally came around and last call was announced. Not long after, the last of the stragglers left and Emma helped Bubba close down the bar. She scrubbed down the bar as the older man counted the night’s profits. When he was done he shuffled back into his office to put the money in the safe. Bubba came out again holding a stack of paperwork. Emma smiled up at him brightly even though she was more than exhausted.

Bubba handed her the paperwork. “Have it filled out when you come back tomorrow. What time do you normally get off from bein’ Sheriff?”

“Five,” Emma answered, dropping the rag to take the papers.

Bubba nodded. “Fair enough, I think bein’ Sheriff is a little more important than being a bar hand. I don’t really need much help ‘til around six anyway. That work better for ya?”

Emma sagged visibly in relief. She had no idea how to ask her father to come in an hour early everyday just so she could come to work here. That would be a huge favor and one Emma still wasn’t wholly comfortably asking from her parents quite yet, even after three years.

“That would be great.” Emma shook her head enthusiastically. If she was quick she could even grab something to go from Granny’s on her way here. That was a hell of a lot better than grabbing a granola bar out of her glove compartment and shoving it into her face right before she walked in.

“Good, good. Off ya go then. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, little lady. Just do your work, that’s all I ask.”

“Of course.” Emma smiled. “See you tomorrow, boss.”

Bubba laughed once and turned to walk back into his office.

 

Emma once again sped home at almost supersonic speeds. A smile was plastered on her face. She had gotten a job within a day. She had a hundred bucks in her pocket that she could throw in her saving account tomorrow to go towards Regina’s ring. She was one step closer making this proposal perfect.

Hopefully, Regina hadn’t waited up for her. She had told the other woman that she was going to be out later, but she hadn’t exactly thought she would be out this late. An interview for a job didn’t usually mean out until past two in the morning. Emma swallowed. She hoped Henry had covered for her somehow. Probably not, but she could hope.

When she pulled up to the mansion it was just before a quarter to three. Emma groaned. She had to be up in five hours. These next few months were going to be killer.

She walked inside, kicked off her boots, and stowed her jacket in the closet automatically. Regina’s initial training from early in their relationship had stuck quite well. Emma tip toed into the house quietly. She made a quick detour to the kitchen and shoved a piece of cold lasagna in her face. She had been starving through her whole shift and even cold, Regina’s cooking was the best thing she’d ever eaten.

The house was quiet as she sat there chewing. Emma sighed in relief. At least that meant that Regina was asleep. She would probably get some sort of chastising about not letting Regina know that she was going to be out _this_ late, but nothing horrible. Regina wouldn’t be awake enough to muster anything more. She groaned softly, but her punishment from taking Henry to Johnson City with her was probably going to be extended even further. She was _really_ going to have to make this proposal perfect to make up for everything.

Dishes from her lasagna raid laid in the sink, she made her way softly upstairs. She opened the door to their room to see Regina asleep with her bedside light on, book lying on her chest, and reading glasses hanging on the tip of her nose. Emma’s heart melted at the sight. She padded across the room and slipped the glasses off Regina’s nose and set them on the nightstand. She picked up the book, marked her place, and set it beside the glasses.

“Regina, baby, lay down. I’m home, ok?” Emma whispered and kissed Regina’s forehead.

“Mmm, Emma?” Regina murmured but her eyes stayed shut.

“Yeah, baby.”

“Don’t call me, baby.” Regina’s face scrunched.

“Alright, Regina. But go to bed, ‘kay? I’ll be back in a second. I’m going to go take a shower, ‘kay?”

“Why were you out so late?”

“I went out with Ruby. I didn’t see how late it was getting. I’m sorry, Regina.”

“Just come to bed soon. Hard to sleep without you here.”

Emma smiled softly at the woman. “Alright, just let me take a shower and I’ll be right in.”

“Good.” Regina turned over and snuggled further into the mattress.

Emma flipped off the light and gathered the stuff she needed in the dark. She slipped into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She’d need to tell Ruby tomorrow that they had ‘gone out’ last night. And somehow she’d have to come up with an excuse as to why she was going to be gone six nights out of seven. But that was a problem for the morning. Right now she had a beautiful woman waiting for her in bed and that was what really mattered in all of this.

She dried her hair quickly and slipped into a new tank top and a pair boy shorts. She switched off the light and walked into the dark room. Emma found her way by memory and slid into bed. Regina was curled around her in an instant. Emma sighed and snuggled further into the other woman.

“Night Regina.”

“Mmm, night, darling.”

Emma smiled and drifted off a few minutes later.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma finally figures out at least part of a plan.

Emma woke up the next morning wrapped in warm arms. She sighed and nuzzled further into her pillow. The alarm hadn’t gone off yet and she was going to take full advantage of whatever time she had left. Her body was still weighed down with exhaustion. She wasn’t as young as she used to be, she used to be able to run on five hours sleep with no problem. Now, that was not the case. Better to stay in Regina’s arms for as long as possible.

The alarm went off and she groaned loudly. A soft chuckle sounded behind Emma as the arms around her squeezed her tighter. She scooted back even further into Regina.

“Mornings never were your strong suit, darling. Your little foray last night with Ruby compounds your problem.” Regina’s voice managed to be chiding, amused, and warm all at the same time.

Emma groaned again. “I refuse to believe it’s morning.” She snuggled into the blankets, grabbing Regina’s hands and pulling the other woman along with her.

“Denial won’t get you anywhere, dear.” Regina pulled her hands free of Emma and slipped out of bed. “I’ll get the coffee going and once you’ve had a chance to get enough caffeine in you to function properly you’ll tell me just what you got up to with Ruby last night.”

Emma pulled the covers over her head. “Not even the promise of coffee is enough to make me move right now.”

A second later the covers were suddenly gone, faint wisps of purple clouding the air. Regina had poofed away the covers. Emma opened her eyes and shot Regina a dirty look.

“Regina, that’s not even fair,” she whined.

“No, Miss Swan, I don’t think it was supposed to be.” Regina grabbed her robe and slipped it on, tying it in one fluid motion.

“Five more minutes would have killed you?”

Regina smirked. “Of course not, but Storybrooke needs its illustrious Sherriff. And the sooner you get up the sooner the town will have you once again instead of a glorified shepherd.”

“Regina.” She drew out the last syllable, pout firmly plastered on her face.

“Coffee will be ready soon.” Regina started to walk out of the room. “And remember, Miss Swan, I did raise Henry for ten years on my own. I know that pout and I am immune to it.”

Emma could hear Regina chuckling as she walked down the hall. She flopped down into her pillow and groaned once again. It wasn’t fair that she was going to marry a morning person. All she wanted was one morning of sleepy cuddling while they ignored the alarm and damned the consequences. Instead, she got the bright eyed and bushytailed mayor. Emma sighed, slight smile passing over her face. But as long as it was Regina, even being a morning person could be forgiven.

She sat up finally, stretching luxuriously. She still had to come up with a reason that she was going to be gone tonight and pretty much every other night and she had to come up with a plausible story for what she and Ruby had done last night, too. Her hands came up to rub her eyes in an attempt to jump start her sleepy brain. The Ruby thing she could handle, she just had to take some of her other Ruby drinking stories and change a few details. She and Ruby were pretty consistent when they went out anymore, they went down the Rabbit Hole, had a drink or two, talked about whatever crossed their minds, Ruby would always make at least a few jokes about Emma being completely whipped, throw in a few innuendos and a lot of laughing and that was about the whole thing.

 But why she would be gone so often? That was a different matter. One that she had to come up with a solution to quickly.  It was a little more than her exhausted brain could handle at the moment. She got up and slipped on her own robe slowly. Maybe coffee would help her think better. She sighed. Her lack of forethought was sometimes a pain in her own ass.

She trudged downstairs. The smell of coffee hit her full in the face as she hit the last step, waking her up just a little bit. Emma walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Regina from behind.

“Morning.” She kissed Regina’s neck, staying a second longer than necessary to inhale the woman’s scent.

Regina hummed, content. “Coffee will be done in a minute.”

“Good.”

Regina chuckled again. “Sometimes I really wonder who’s the teenager, you or Henry. You certainly have the right sleeping schedule, unlike our son.”

“You don’t complain when I’m keeping you up all night,” Emma said right by Regina’s ear.

A slight shiver passed through Regina. “And also the sex drive of a teenage boy,” she added.

“Like I said, you don’t complain. And you can’t say much there. I mean really. Closets. Need I say more?”

“I suppose not.” The corners of Regina’s mouth twitched up. She turned and kissed Emma lightly before turning back to the eggs in the pan in front of her. “It’s not my fault the savior happens to be quite stunning.”

Emma smiled and snorted. “Well, the savior has nothing on the Evil Queen.” She hugged Regina once more, stepping back as the coffee pot dinged. She grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and poured them both a cup. She stirred in just the right amount of sugar for Regina before handing the mug over. She took her own and blew on it for a few seconds before taking a sip, bitter warmth suffusing her being and waking her up just a little more.

They stood in silence for a few moments, sipping coffee as Regina finished up their breakfast. Regina slid their eggs onto two separate plates, walking over to the bar and perching on one of the stools, obviously waiting for Emma to sit on the stool beside her. Emma obliged, grabbing her plate and sitting beside the other woman.

“So what did you and Ruby get up to last night?” Regina asked, carefully peeling back the top of one of the yolks so she could dip her toast in the golden liquid below.

“The usual. Laughing at a wasted Leroy trying to play pool, talking about what’s going on in the diner and all of the gossip that she’s heard this week, her normal questions about how good you are in bed, you know, a normal night out.”

Regina snorted. “Sounds like it.”

A little light bulb went off over Emma’s head. She had an idea. “Speaking of being out late, before I went out with Ruby I stayed a little after work to finish up some paperwork and David and I got to talking. He wants to switch to day shift for a little while so he can spend more time with Snow. As it is now their schedules sort of conflict. I told him that I’d switch with him for a while.”

Regina’s face scrunched. “How long are you switching for.”

“Three months or so.” Emma rubbed the back of her neck. It was clear that Regina wasn’t exactly loving this idea right off the bat, but it was the best idea Emma had to explain everything. “I figure in that three months I can find some more volunteer deputies to cover more than just the weekends so David can be on days more.”

“I wish I had been consulted on this before you agreed.” Regina’s words were clipped.

Emma swallowed and looked at the counter sheepishly. “Sorry, but I figured I sort of owed him, you know? I mean, I’m the one who stuck him on nights in the first place. Plus, he is my Dad and everything so.”

Regina looked over at her, eyes full of conflicting emotions. “I see where you’re coming from, but we’re supposed to be a team and that means making decisions like this together.”

“Yeah…I’m still sort of bad at that, aren’t I?” Emma sighed. God damn she really had to make this proposal stellar to make up for this. “I really am sorry, Regina.”

“I’ll barely get to see you,” Regina added in a smaller voice.

“I know. I’ll get on that deputy thing right away and maybe it won’t be three months. I’m not really a fan of barely getting to see you either.

Regina picked up her plate, still filled with half eaten food, and walked over to the trash can, sliding the remains of her breakfast into the container. “I’d allot the department more money so you could just hire someone if I could.”

“I know that, Regina. But still, it shouldn’t be that hard to find three or four willing volunteers. And training them doesn’t take that long, especially if they’ve been in the military before. And it really seems like everyone was in the military at some point. Your land was sort of hardcore.”

Regina snorted. “I suppose compared to this one it was.”

“It won’t be that bad. We can still have breakfast together at least.”

“But you won’t be sleeping beside me. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get any real rest.”

Shit. Emma hadn’t thought of that. She could crash at Snow’s no problem once she explained the situation to her mother, but sleeping without Regina at her side would be the worst form of torture. She wasn’t sure it was possible for her to fall asleep without the faint scent of honeysuckle and Regina’s warmth surrounding her.

“Yeah, me either.” Emma ran a hand through her hair. “I really don’t think these things through.”

“No, darling, that you don’t, not if you’re helping someone.”

Emma frowned. “Yeah, but a promise is a promise now I guess.”

Regina nodded. “I suppose it is, but expect there to be a list of potential candidates on your desk by the end of the day. I’m sure a few members of my personal guard would do quite nicely.”

Emma snorted. “We’ll see about that. Those guys only listen to you.”

“You’re of my house, they’ll obey you. Well not officially, but it’s official enough that they will listen to you.”

“Of your house?” Emma tilted her head to the side.

“Married to me in this case, dear. A house is like your family name. Like we would be House Mills.”

Emma cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, I take your name, do I?”

“Henry and I are already Mills, it would make the most sense for you to take our name as well.”

Emma thought it out of a second. “Swan-Mills.”

Regina turned towards Emma and pursed her lips. “Mills-Swan.”

“Doesn’t flow as well. Plus you’re supposed to save the best for last.” Emma smiled at her own cheesy line.

“Or you could just take the name Mills and there would be no need to save the best for last.”

“Swan was the name I picked myself. It’s the one thing that’s been solely mine my whole life. I’m a little reluctant to part with it fully, you know. But it would be my honor to add to it, especially your name because that’s important to me as well.”

Regina walked back towards Emma. “I suppose.” She cupped Emma’s face gently, smiling down at the younger woman. “We’ll talk about this more when it’s fully relevant.” Regina bent down and kissed Emma gently and sweetly, conveying more emotions than Regina had let on.

Emma smiled into the kiss. That discussion would be relevant again sooner rather than later. It took all she had not to start squirming on her stool in anticipation.

 The two of them pulled apart after a long moment.

“Ok,” Emma said, slightly breathless.

Regina nodded once. “Good, and now it’s time for us to go to work.”

“Actually I’m starting tonight, but I’ve got to go in anyway and finish the paperwork to make the switch official. After all, my boss is a real stickler for paperwork.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “For good reasons. Otherwise we might spend the town’s yearly budget in a week again.”

Emma laughed. “I’m not exactly sure how not filing paperwork about what shit David and I are working would lead to that, but whatever you say, your highness.”

“It’s your majesty dear, as I’m a Queen. You would be addressed as your highness.”

Emma just stared at Regina, eyebrow cocked.

Regina huffed. “Just because we aren’t in the Enchanted Forest doesn’t mean that I’ll take a downgrade on my status, even from you, my dear.”

Emma laughed and rolled her eyes. “Of course, your majesty. Whatever was I thinking?”

Regina glared. “Come, let me drive you in then.”

Emma slapped her hands over her heart dramatically. “You? Letting me in your Benz? The world must be ending.”

Regina slapped her lightly. “Go, Miss Swan, before I change my mind.”

Emma laughed and walked out of the kitchen. 

 

As soon as she got to the station she grabbed her father and hauled him into her office.

“Emma, what’s going on?” David asked, stumbling after her.

“You know how you wanted switched to day shift?” Emma flopped down into her chair and propped her feet up on the desk.

“Well, yeah, but you said we didn’t have the budget to hire anyone else. Why?” David scratched at the back of his neck.

“We might not have the budget to _hire_ someone, but we’re going to recruit some more volunteer deputies so we can get you off night shift at least some of the time. And when I say we are going to recruit new deputies, I really do mean we. Because for all intents and purposes  you’re now working day shift and I’m working nights as a favor to you, at least that’s what’s going on record. I got a second job to help pay for Regina’s ring and I need a cover for why I’ll be gone almost every night.”

“Ok?” David’s face scrunched and his head tilted to the side, trying to connect the dots.

“Yeah, so you sort of have to cover for me if Regina asks…and maybe take paperwork over to her office. I’ll have it done at the end of my shift so it should be all good. I just really need everything to work out, you know?” Emma looked at David hopefully. “So will you help?”

“Of course, baby girl, I’ll help you with whatever you need. I know this proposal means a lot to you and I’ll help in whatever way possible to make it special for the both of you.” David smiled warmly.

Emma smiled back, debating on whether she should get up and hug her father. She settled instead on just continuing to smile. There would be time for hugs later when all of this actually worked out.

“Thanks, Dad. Go home, get some sleep. Both of us are probably going to need it for the next couple of months.” Emma groaned at the thought of all the sleep she was going to lose. So totally worth it, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed being a zombie.

David’s smiled shifted into something distinctly fatherly. “If you need help with paperwork or anything, or just need a nap in the middle of the day, I’m just a call away, you know.”

“I do.” And strangely enough she believed that he would come when she called, too.  Strange what three years with a family had done to her. She actually trusted people now. Warmth suffused her being. It truly was a nice feeling.

“Now go, you aren’t getting any sleep sitting here staring at me.” Emma made a shooing motion with her hands. “I’m sure Mom is wondering where you are for breakfast. Oh, could you tell her to call me on her lunch break? I need to talk to her about some other stuff for the proposal. Actually, I need to tell her period.”

David nodded. “Sure.” He stood and walked out the door. “I’ll see you later, baby girl.”

“Bye Dad.”

Emma bit the inside of her lip for a few seconds. So far so good. The corners of her mouth drew up as she reached for one of the incident reports she had put aside the day before half finished. She set to work still smiling.

 

A few hours later Emma’s cell phone rang just as she was putting the finishing touches on her paperwork for the job at Bubba’s. Emma threw down her pen and scrabbled around for the phone without looking up from proof reading the papers in front of her. She absentmindedly swiped the screen with her thumb and brought the phone to her face.

“Hello?” She asked.

“Hey, Emma,” Snow said cheerily.

“Hi Mom.” Emma stopped proof reading and pushed the papers away from her for now.

“Charming said you wanted me to call on my lunch hour?”

Emma looked at the clock on the wall to make sure that that much time had actually passed. It had. Apparently time had gotten away from her while she was working.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I didn’t realize that it was actually that late.”

“Busy day?”

“Yeah, sort of. Mostly just a lot of paperwork, you know?”

“Ah.”

Emma shook her head. “Anyway, did Dad tell you about my plans for Regina?”

“No, what’s going on?”

Emma cocked an eyebrow. She had been sure that the first thing David would do after finding out that she was planning to propose to Regina would be to tell Snow. Then again, he wasn’t the one with the history of tattling.

“I’m-uh-I’m going to propose to Regina soon. I kinda need help sorting everything out though.”

“Oh, Honey, I’d love to help.”

Some part of Snow was probably internally screaming at the thought of her little girl marrying the Evil Queen, but she sounded genuine enough to put a smile on Emma’s face.

“Thanks, Mom. Dad, Henry, and Ruby have been helping me with some of the preliminary stuff, but there’s still a lot more to do, you know. I really want it to be the best.”

“I think we can handle that. Do you have anything in mind at all?”

Emma rubbed at the back of her neck. “Not really? I mean I picked out the ring and I got another job just so I could save up for the ring, but other than that I have no earthly clue. Kinda why I’ve been asking for help. Oh, also if Regina asks, I now work nights at the station instead of Dad. I needed a cover story for why I’ll be out. Which reminds me, can I crash at your place for a few months? I can’t come home in the middle of the night to sleep since Regina thinks I’m on night shift.”

“Sure, Honey, you can sleep in your old bed. It’s no problem.”

“Thanks. I’ll be seeing even more of you than normal.” Emma laughed. “I suppose that means we’ll have ample time to plan everything down to a T won’t we?”

Emma could practically hear the dreamy smile in Snow’s voice as she replied. “Yes, we will. Oh, my little girl finally getting married. It’s a dream come true.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Mom. I have to get back to filling out the paperwork for my new job, but I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’m sure you’ll have five million suggestions, won’t you?”

Snow laughed. “Oh, you can bet on it.”

“Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?” Emma said drawing the phone away from her ear already.

“Sure Emma. Have a nice day.”

“You too, Mom.”

She hung up the phone and stared at it for a second. She wondered just exactly what she was getting herself into. Snow would probably suggest something ridiculously cutesy and slightly vomit inducing and totally not Regina worthy. But she was what Emma had. She bit her lip. Maybe if she convinced Snow and Ruby to work together they would balance each other out. Snow would balance the risqué qualities of Ruby and Ruby would tone down the disgustingly cute. It just might be crazy enough to work. Then again it might just be crazy.

She put down her phone, sighed, and set back to work proofreading her papers.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma wonders if her punishment is over yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to play spot how many Disney characters, references, and puns I cant fit in a chapter.

The next couple of weeks passed in a blur of paperwork, patrols, various juggling acts, and enough alcohol to drown even the most tolerant alcoholic. Emma was no stranger to working two jobs; she had had to work two jobs just to get by for a long while after she had gotten out of prison, but she couldn’t recall being so exhausted day in and day out. Emma balked at the thought that she was getting older and therefore less able to deal with such stress. Surely it was just because now she had family and friends to deal with as well. It had nothing to do with her age. Denial was also more than a river in Africa.

She dropped her head down onto her desk and groaned. Just three more days until her fourth Monday off. Eight more until this whole thing was over. She could make it. She had to.

Despite being more tired than she ever could recall, she couldn’t ever remember being as content either. She was going to spend the rest of her life with the woman she loved. They were going to be a family with Henry.  And everything was working out to make it so. She was getting enough tips to make sure that she got Regina’s ring on time.  She had managed to get Snow and Ruby to work together to help her plan the proposal, and while nothing definite had come from it she was sure something had to give.

Emma had been sure that Ruby and Snow would tone each other down, but that wasn’t the case. They played off each other and made the suggestions the other made ten times worse it seemed. If she heard about how she should get a bluebird to deliver the ring to her right before she proposed one more time she was going to scream. She couldn’t believe when Ruby had nodded along with that suggestion as if it was the best idea in the world. Emma didn’t even want to _think_ about what it meant that Snow had said Ruby’s ball gag and handcuff idea was a good idea. Nor about the blush that both woman had worn at that particular lunch when she had stupidly asked why her mother even knew about such things.

Nope. Not going to think about it. But Snow and Ruby had spent a lot of time alone in the woods… God, no, her brain did _not_ need to go there. A shiver of disgust ran through her.

Even the uber-healthy food that Regina had been shoving down her throat at breakfast as pay back for the Johnson City incident had morphed back into their normal breakfast fair. Emma swore if she ever saw anymore fucking wheatgrass she was going to vomit. Maybe she’d even throw up if she saw that putrid shade of green again. How Regina had choked it all down with a smile she had no idea. Maybe vengeance made it taste sweeter. It wouldn’t surprise her.

She sighed heavily. There was only one thing that hadn’t been going smoothly. While the disappearance of the superfoods from their diet signified that Emma was probably forgiven for her transgressions, there had been absolutely no time to cash in on the other benefits besides edible food. It had been three weeks since she and Regina had had sex. It was the longest Emma had went without since she and Regina had gotten together three years ago, and it was driving her up a wall. Combined with the fact that she’d had no time to take care of herself and also the slight fear that she was still under orders not to, her body was weeping like a four year old whose ice cream had dropped on the ground. It was getting to the point where she was debating on selling her soul just for a _kiss_ from Regina.

She just missed Regina period, really. Spending time together at breakfast wasn’t nearly enough after spending almost every waking moment with the woman for the last three years, save the hours they were at work, and sometimes not even then. There had been more than one afternoon where she had found and excuse to do paperwork in Regina’s office and vice versa. It was sweet torture not seeing her.

Emma pursed her lips. Maybe there was an idea in there somewhere. She glanced at the clock. It was almost lunch time. If she hurried she could go grab lunch from Granny’s for the two of them and waylay any other plans Regina might have had for lunch.

Her keys were in her hands and she was walking out the door before she had really made a conscious decision.

A few minutes later she walked into Granny’s and walked up to the counter. Ruby smiled at her and flounced over to her.

“What’s up, Emma? You want your usual?”

She nodded. “And Regina’s normal Caesar salad, too.”

Ruby tilted her head. “You’re going to see her? But she thinks you’re supposed to be asleep right now.

“And why couldn’t I have just set the alarm so I could bring her lunch? Ruby, I miss her. I’m pretty damn sure she misses me, too. I don’t think she’ll question it as long as I’m not there every day.” Emma shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess.” Ruby walked to the window and yelled back the order to Gaston before returning to Emma. “Anyway, Snow and I were talking again and—”

“Ruby, I swear to god if you say something ridiculous like suggest bluebird themed lingerie I will seriously just kidnap Regina and elope and then I won’t have to hear anything crazy ever again.”

Ruby shot her a surprised look before looking down and scrubbing an already clean section of counter with a nearby rag. “What? It was sexy at the time, ok?” she mumbled.

“Rubes, I’m starting to worry about you.” Emma looked at her levelly.

“Shut up, it’s not like you and Regina haven’t done some rather questionable things in the bedroom.” Ruby flipped the end of the rag at her.

“At least I can honestly say we don’t involve bluebirds.” Emma cocked an eyebrow, looking for all the world like Regina for an instant. She sighed. “Got any other suggestions Ruby?”

“Well, I mean Snow and I have definitely talked and we think it has to be more than dinner, you know?”

Emma nodded along. They went to dinner all the time. This had to be special. It had to have something to make it pop.

“We’re kinda stuck as to what, though. We have been compiling a list of dinner places though, and we did go through and cross off the ones you go to all the time. So, at least there’s been some progress.”

“Ruby, it took three of us three weeks to arrive to the decision that dinner was an absolute must and that was only after I shot down plenty of other rather _interesting_ suggestions. Sweet Jesus, Ruby, skydiving while proposing?”

“What? It’d be memorable.”

“Except that I’d rather live through my proposal.”

Ruby shrugged. “I’ll get you the list later. Though, I really think you should go to Lumiere’s place. I know you said you hate French food, but seriously. It’s the swankiest place around.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Order up!” Gaston shouted.

Ruby turned and grabbed Emma’s food and handed it to her. “Well think fast, reservations in that place take forever to get. I can pull a few strings, bribe Lumiere with some culinary favors or something, but still, the sooner the better.”

Emma nodded and handed Ruby money for the food. “Thanks, Rubes. I’ll see you later.” She hurried out the door and scurried towards town hall and Regina.

 

Emma walked up the familiar wooden stairs of town hall five minutes later. She emerged into the open and airy hall at the top, marble amplifying the sound of her boots against the floor. She strolled to the end of the hall, shooting a smile at Regina’s secretary, Marie. The girl nodded back to Emma, face impassive.

“Is she busy?” Emma asked, coming to a stop right in front of Marie’s desk.

“Hmm,” the girl almost sounded like she was purring. “She shouldn’t be, but best to check.” Her slight French accent seemed very out of place in small town Maine. She stood from her chair, grabbed a few files and walked into Regina’s office with enough feline grace to rival even Regina.

Marie emerged a minute later, nodding. “She’s finishing up a call, but she said you could come in.”

Emma nodded. “Thanks.”

She walked into Regina’s office. Regina looked up from her desk, smiling brightly at Emma. Emma returned the smile and walked over to the conference table, nudging aside the ever present bowl of apples so she could set down the bag with their lunch. She went to work putting out their respective meals as Regina continued to snark at whatever poor, unfortunate soul was on the other end of the line.

“No, the town ordinance that cut taxes on the fishing industry in Storybrooke does not apply to you.” A pause. “I do not care that you used to be a fish back in the Enchanted Forest. The tax cut applies to the fishing industry because it is a vital part of Storybrooke’s economy and therefore needs to be supported in some way. You, however, are not a vital part of the economy, Mr. Flet. You barely pay your taxes and you keep trying to skirt even that responsibility.  I grow tired of your constant attempts to find tax loopholes. Perhaps if you used the time you spend combing the town tax code for something useful you might actually have a job worth keeping.”

Emma smiled. She loved Regina’s sass when it wasn’t directed at her. That was a lie. She loved Regina’s sass whether it was directed at her or not. She just enjoyed it so much more when she could just sit back and watch another person flounder for come backs.

Regina slammed down the phone a few seconds later. She huffed loudly and rolled her eyes. “The nerve of some people.”

Emma laughed. “If it makes you feel better I could always write him a ticket for his god awful lawn ornaments and say they’re litter.”

The sides of Regina’s mouth pulled up slightly. “That won’t be necessary, Miss Swan. I am more than capable of handling Mr. Flet on my own. He, after all, has the brain of a fish.”

“Do I want to know what story he’s from?”

“You have a particular fondness for that one. I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you.”

Emma cocked her head and thought for a minute. A story about fish that she liked?

“No, no way, that asshole is Flounder.”

“Indeed.”

Emma groaned. “I’m never watching a Disney movie again.”

“Some of the newer ones are safe, darling.”

“But those aren’t the classics,” Emma whined.

Regina walked over and wrapped her arms around Emma’s waist. “The classics are horribly overrated. I do not, nor have I ever, had eyebrows that ridiculous. And that outfit is quite matronly compared to what I did wear.”

Emma smirked. “You can say that again.” She leaned forward and kissed Regina’s forehead. “And I quite like your eyebrows the way they are.”

Regina hummed, leaning her forehead against Emma’s. “So dear, you agree with me that the classics aren’t always the best.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Ok, so Brave was cute. And since there aren’t any red headed Scottish people running around I assume that one is safe.”

Regina nodded minutely. “And the Princess and the Frog and Pocahontas.  Also Frozen, because while Arendelle did actually exist not far from the Enchanted Forest they were not brought over with the curse. Pixar movies are usually a safe bet. Your Disney repertoire for movie weekend will be fine, darling.”

“You say that, but soon enough there’s going to be a talking snowman on our front porch and then what will I watch?”

Regina cocked an eyebrow. “I could think of a few things…though they aren’t quite as family friendly.”

Emma head-butted Regina gently. “Movie weekends generally involve Henry. We don’t want to scar the kid. No child needs to know his mother is _that_ flexible.”

Regina chuckled. “I suppose not.” She reached out and tucked a strand of Emma’s hair behind her ear. “I left you to sleep barely four hours ago. What are you doing up? I don’t want you falling asleep in the middle of a patrol.”

“I’ll be fine Regina, promise. I just missed you and wanted to see you. Lunch sounded like a good idea.” Emma gestured to the table beside them.

Regina leaned forward and kissed Emma lightly. “Well, I suppose I can’t complain.” She took a step back and turned to the chair in front of her salad. “I missed you too, Emma.”

Emma smiled warmly, taking her own seat. “Aw, the Evil Queen’s going all soft on me.”

Regina shot Emma a glare. “Don’t push your luck, Miss Swan. Bribery with food and company will only get you so far.”

“Well, what food and company won’t get me, chocolate will. The special dark kind of chocolate with chili powder in it that you love so much, to be exact.”

Regina licked her lips subconsciously. “That will buy you some more leeway, but I’d still watch your step, Emma.”

Emma tossed a fry at Regina. “I’m quaking in my boots, Madam Mayor.”

Regina picked up the offending piece of food and tossed it in the empty Granny’s bag in front of her. She sighed and glared at Emma. “A child, my girlfriend is a child.” She speared a couple leaves of lettuce and brought them to her mouth.

“You secretly love it.” Emma shoved a mouthful of fries into her mouth and smiled at Regina to make a point.

Regina rolled her eyes and went back to her salad.

The meal went on companionably. They talked about their day, how the search for the new volunteer deputies was going, and whatever else came to mind. Emma was dying to tell Regina about the atrocious bluebird lingerie suggestion, but managed to hold her tongue. She didn’t want to have to explain why that had come up. It would be a stretch to pass that off as normal conversation even if she had been talking to Ruby. She would tell Regina after the proposal. It would probably make an even funnier story then.

Emma smiled. She could imagine the sass now. And the ring on Regina’s finger as she took Ruby’s questionable taste in attire to town. Yes, it would be worth the wait.

They stood up after they finished, cleaning up the remains of their meal together. Emma walked the Granny’s bag over to the trash while Regina walked over to her desk, flipping through a few papers, crease between her eyebrows forming and making her even more adorable than normal. Emma walked over and hugged Regina from behind.

“You know, you’re even cuter than normal when you’re concentrating really hard,” she whispered into Regina’s ear.

Regina hummed. “Oh, really dear?”

“Yup.” She kissed below Regina’s ear. Suddenly, the need to have Regina right then and there was overwhelming.

She glanced over at the clock on Regina’s wall. There was still plenty of time before Regina’s lunch hour was officially over. She started to kiss down Regina’s neck, swirling her tongue in just the right way to drive Regina mad. Regina’s head titled to allow Emma more access to the skin there. A breathy sigh escaped the older woman as the papers she was holding floated back down to her desk.

Once Emma reached the collar of Regina’s shirt she grabbed the other woman’s waist and turned her, claiming plump red lips as their fronts collided then melded together. Regina’s arms came to rest around her neck. Emma’s hands wandered down to Regina’s ass, squeezing through the tight pencil skirt. The moan Regina released into Emma’s mouth was delicious. Tan hands tangled in blonde hair, tugging lightly. Emma hummed her approval while exploring Regina’s mouth. She had almost forgotten just how good really kissing Regina felt.

One of Emma’s hands slid to the zipper at the side of Regina’s skirt. She flicked the little piece of metal back and forth a few times before slowly inching it down. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist. Emma pulled back, surprised. She looked at Regina, head cocked to the side, questioning.

“What’s wrong?” she asked the other woman, panting slightly.

Regina swallowed visibly before replying. “I said there would be no sex until I said so.”

“But—I thought—you stopped with the god awful food?” Emma stammered out.

“You thought just because I stopped making you drink wheatgrass smoothies I’d forgiven you?”

“Well, yeah.”

Regina sighed and stepped out of Emma’s arms. “Not quite, Miss Swan.”

“But then why the kissing?” Emma couldn’t quite wrap her head around it in this state. She had been so close to feeling Regina’s skin she could cry.

“Because I’m only human, Miss Swan.” Regina shrugged slightly.

Emma sighed. “Regina, it’s been three weeks and I’ve apologized a million times. I don’t know what else to do to make you forgive me.”

“I’m working on it, Emma. But you and I both know forgiveness isn’t exactly my strong suit. Stopping the parade of rather questionable health food was a step towards forgiveness. But until I’ve completely forgiven you I don’t think I can…” Regina trailed off and wrung her hands.

A light bulb went off over Emma’s head.  “It’s not so much about punishment now as it is about fear that I’ll suddenly see you as the Evil Queen, turn tail and run and leave you hurt, alone, and broken. Getting attached to me again would just hurt you more.”

Regina nodded. “Punishment would’ve ended with the stop of those horrid wheatgrass smoothies a week and a half ago. Maybe the sex embargo would’ve ended before the wheatgrass and I would’ve just kept around the health food to prove a point.” Regina bit her lip.

Emma stepped towards her and grabbed Regina’s hand. “I’m not leaving anytime soon, Regina. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone else in my entire life. But I get it, it’s hard for you to trust in people sometimes. Even harder for you to trust people again once they’ve broken your trust, even a little bit. You have nothing to fear from me. You can trust me. But I get it, it takes time to talk yourself out of all your doubts and let yourself be happy again.” Emma smiled sadly. “Take as much time as you need. I’ll still be here.”

“Thank you, Emma.” Regina squeezed her hand. “I don’t think it helps that I barely get to see you.”

“Compounded by the fact that I didn’t really ask you about switching shifts.”

“In a way, I was displeased by that, but not really angry. But no, it didn’t help.”

“I’m sorry for that too.”

“It’s fine, as you said you were doing a favor for your father.”

Emma regarded the other woman carefully. Now she sort of felt crappy about all the lying she was doing in order to make this proposal work. But she knew Regina would understand once everything was said and done. This was literally the opposite of seeing her as Evil Queen and running. This was a pledge to stay. And it was going to be fucking perfect and Regina was going to feel just how much Emma loved her if it was the last thing she did.

Emma stepped forward and kissed Regina gently. “Doesn’t change that I should have asked you and that I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Language, Miss Swan.”

Emma snorted. Some things never changed. She kissed Regina again. She had a feeling that Regina was well on her way fully forgiving her. She just had to be patient.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma Swan uses her badass skills to diffuse a bar fight.

Emma got into the bug later that day, sighing heavily. It had been a long day. It had been a long _week_. Hell, who was she kidding it had been a long month, for Christ’s sake. But today was worse than normal. She set her head on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. The discussion with Regina at lunch had taken a lot more out of her than she had thought. She would be glad when this all was over and she could spend as much time as she wanted with Regina. But for now it was Friday.

She groaned loudly as she reached for her keys to start the bug. Friday was not a day to be as drug out as she was. It was one of the bar’s busiest days and therefore one of her biggest tip opportunities. She had to be bright, smiley, energetic, never miss a beat, never miss a toss, never miss a catch, employing her biggest and most impressive Emma Swan moves tonight. She was keeping up with what she needed to get in tips per day to get Regina’s ring, but just barely. She needed to be on her game to make sure she made it and didn’t fall behind. Even better if tonight she actually managed to get ahead, but for that she couldn’t be as tired as she was. She had to pep herself up somehow.

The bug roared to life under her fingers and she lifted her head. Maybe she’d grab a Red Bull from the back when she got to Bubba’s. But shit those things were expensive even if Bubba only required employees to pay unit price instead of the inflated bar price. She sighed again. Emma could do without then. She just had to think of Regina, that should perk her up sufficiently to get through yet another shift.

At least she tomorrow she didn’t have any sheriff duties. She could sleep in her own bed surrounded by the smell of Regina once eight in the morning rolled around. Maybe she could even convince Regina to come snuggle with her after the kid went off with one of his friends. Thank god for teenagers wanting to spend every second with their friends. At least in this one case. The thought of the kid growing up still traumatized her somewhat.

She flew out of Storybrooke, the engine of the bug groaning its protest. The old car definitely did not like all these long trips outside of Storybrooke at questionable speeds. She’d baby the car when this was over, oil change, new spark plugs, the works when she had the money. Emma wanted to keep the bug around as long as possible. Even if she only kept the bug around anymore just to hear Regina bitch about it being an ugly deathtrap.

She got to Bubba’s with a few minutes to spare, chugging the tomato soup while trying to inhale the fries that Ruby had packed for her dinner. Emma fluffed out her hair in the mirror and pulled down her tank top so it showed a little more cleavage than normal. She grabbed her make up bag that she kept in the glove box and touched up the light make up she’d put on earlier. When she deemed herself ready for another night of work she stepped out of the bug and walked into Bubba’s.

The regulars were already seated at the bar, talking with Bubba and each other. Bubba waved at her as she went back into his office to drop off her jacket. She returned to the bar quickly, smiling exhaustedly at Bubba as she walked up to Melinda, firmly seated in the area of the bar that Emma usually tended. The prickly woman had taken quite the liking to her after the first few days. She shot the same smile at Melinda, trying to brighten it up a little but failing.

She grabbed the empty glass in front of Melinda and threw it in the dirty glass bin. “So what’ll it be today, Melinda?”

“Whatever newfangled thing you can come up with, Swan.” Melinda’s backcountry drawl drew out the words in odd ways.

Emma nodded. “Well, let’s see I made you a Comso yesterday and a sidecar the car the day before.” Emma pursed her lips in thought. “Ever had a snakebite?”

The woman just looked at her. “Well, I’ve gotten bitten by a snake if that counts. Hurt like a son of a bitch. Found the little bastard and took his head off with a shovel ‘fore I went to the hospital.”

Emma snorted. “Not exactly what I meant. Here.” Emma started to grab what she needed from below the bar and set about mixing the drink, doing her normal warm up number, tossing the bottles and shakers easily. She grabbed a shot glass and set it in front of Melinda, pouring the light yellow drink into it a second later. “Have a snakebite. I guarantee this’ll be better than the real thing.”

The woman picked up the shot and threw it back, a few strands of dyed red hair falling out of her cap. Her nose twitched as she slammed the glass down. “Not bad, Swan, but I gotta say, you’ve made me better.”

Emma shrugged. “Maybe tomorrow then.” She got out the normal fixings of Melinda’s usual rum and coke.

She left the woman with a fresh drink and made her rounds, filling empty drinks and conversing with everyone. The regulars had taken well to her, with a few exceptions. She let Bubba deal with them usually. Big burly men did not intimidate her in the slightest, but it was better to avoid a conflict where she could. Besides, it wasn’t worth the effort if they weren’t going to tip well. There were plenty of others, regulars and new comers alike, who liked her plenty well enough to leave at least a decent tip. Emma rolled her eyes, bastards.

More and more people trickled in as it got later. It was going to be a busy one, even by Friday standards. Twangy music started to pump through the bar and she and Bubba never seemed to stop moving. Emma’s energy started to go up as adrenaline trickled into her system. Her tosses got bigger, her tricks more complicated. She poured more than a few drinks, tossing the bottles behind her back and pouring while keeping up conversation with whoever she was making the drink for. Halfway through her shift she was more than on her way to getting ahead of where she needed to be with ring money. She smiled brighter at the thought.

There was finally a lull in drink orders, most people having stumbled their way to the dance floor for a string of songs that everyone seemed to know the moves. Bubba sidled over to her, leaning on the bar, staring out at the crowd.

“Lookin’a little tired today, little lady.”

Emma shrugged. “Long week, even longer day.”

“Everythin’ ok?” He turned to her, and Emma could see the concern in his eyes, even though the rest of his face was impassive.

“Fine. It turns out that working two jobs while planning a proposal with my mother and best friend takes a lot out of you. Especially when your mother and best friend and two separate kinds of ridiculous.”

Bubba chuckled. “Well then, I suppose you’re doin’ quite well if that’s the case.”

Emma snorted. “I suppose.” She sighed. “I think we’re close to having a break through, but everything has to be perfect. I want it to be perfect for Regina.”

Bubba nodded. “I getcha.”

“And she’s just…she’s so sophisticated, and I’m just not. So it’s hard.” Emma looked around. “She would stick out like a sore thumb in a place like this.” Emma stopped for a second realizing what she said could be taken as an insult. “No offence.”  

“None taken. Different people fit in different places.” Bubba shrugged.

Emma frowned, still looking at the crowd. “I’ve always been good and blending into the background no matter where I am,” she said quietly.

Bubba turned to look at her again, surveying her face carefully. “I think the trick is findin’ the place where ya fit in without bein’ in the background.”

Emma’s eyes found Bubba’s. “I’ve found it with Regina. It’s just a little hard to get used to.”

Bubba nodded. “Sometimes it is.” He paused a moment before going on. “When I proposed I kept it simple, stuck to things we liked and added somethin’ a little special to everythin’. I can’t imagine it would’ve worked out any better had I gone all fancy. But that’s just my take on things. Ya do what ya need to do, little lady.”

And with that Bubba walked off to serve a couple red faced people back from dancing. Emma stared after him for a couple seconds before shaking herself. She wasn’t sure what had just happened, but she had a job to do. She walked over to another couple of danced out people and started serving drinks again.

 

Not long after that was when her night went to complete shit. In the month that Emma had worked at Bubba’s there hadn’t been a single bar fight. She hadn’t thought much of it, really. Bubba had a way of talking people down whenever the booze got a little too much to their heads. But tonight Bubba just wasn’t having any luck.

Emma was mixing yet another rum and coke when raised voices caught her attention. She barely made her catch she was so distracted. She shoved the finished drink in front of the man who ordered it and started walking down the bar to where Bubba was talking in a low voice. Two burly men were face to face, inches away from each other. One of them was one of the men that didn’t like Emma. She almost snorted, go figure. The other she hadn’t seen before.

Broken fragments of words from their shouting match reached her ears through the blaring music.

“—stole my man—”

“—no—left you—”

“—lying—bastard!”

Emma titled her head. It sounded like someone had cheated on the newcomer and the cranky regular was the one they had cheated with. Were they arguing about another man? Emma wasn’t sure she had heard right.

She finally reached Bubba’s side a second later and that’s when things got real. The regular grabbed his nearly full beer bottle and smashed it over the newcomer’s head. Alcohol and glass splattered everywhere, soaking Emma’s clothes and hair. The newcomer was dazed for a second but grabbed a bottle out of a stranger’s hands and returned the favor. More alcohol and glass flew. Emma groaned internally. There was no way she was coming out of this not smelling like a distillery.

Bubba started shouting at the two men now, threating to call the cops. Emma just sighed and hopped the bar, coming down on the other side gracefully. This wasn’t going to be pretty, and no small town law enforcement was going to get here in time to stop it from turning into an all-out full bar brawl. She was a sheriff, this wasn’t her jurisdiction. But close enough. Besides, she would bet all the money she had that no officer from around here had been a bail bonds person and had been in quite as many fights as she had.

She stepped up behind the new comer and knocked him forward. He didn’t move much, his bulk counteracting most of the force, but it was enough to knock him off balance.  He tried to turn and face Emma, but Emma was ahead of him. She dropped into a crouch, stuck her leg out and tripped up the guy as he was turning.  He fell heavily on the floor. Emma stood up and walked over to him.

“Now, you can either get out of here or you can ride out of here in an ambulance,” she said to him evenly. “Which will it be?”

The man got up and scurried out the door, yelling over his shoulder threats to the other guy about it wasn’t over because some bitch had defended him. Charming. Emma rolled her eyes and started to walk back behind the bar again.

A meaty hand settled on her shoulder. A heavy sigh escaped her. It just couldn’t be that easy.

She turned and regarded the regular. He gave her his best death glare. She snorted. He had _nothing_ on Regina.

“You little bitch, who said you could get involved?” He asked her, spit flying in her face.

Emma’s fists clenched. She brought one of them up to scrub her face quickly.

Bubba stepped up beside her. “Now Mark, you know there aren’t no fights in here. Emma was only doin’ her job breakin’ it up.”

“Stay out of this, Bubba. This is between me and this bitch.”

Without warning he swung at Emma. She stepped back, but not enough. His fist landed a glancing blow right beside her left eye. Emma hissed in a breath. She was going to have a hell of a bruise tomorrow.

She saw red. Fuck this. She stepped forward and punched him as hard as she could in the nose. A satisfying crunch sounded and a second later blood spurted from Mark’s nose. The man curled into himself. Emma stepped forward.

“I’m a lot of things, but I’m nobody’s bitch.” Emma turned, massaging her hand gently, returning behind the bar.

“Get out of here, Mark. And don’t come back until ya have that lover’s quarrel sorted out, ya hear?” Bubba escorted the man to the door.

He was behind the bar with Emma a minute later. “Ya probably need to put some ice on that.” He gestured to both her face and hand.

Emma shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

Bubba chuckled. “I don’t doubt that little lady, but I don’t think ya want your lady love to see you all black and blue and swollen.”

Emma sighed. “I’ll ice it soon.”

Bubba nodded. “Coulda handled that better.”

“I have a thing with the word bitch. Sets me off.” Emma shrugged. “Sorry, but he probably would’ve walked out of here with a broken nose anyway. He wasn’t going to stop.”

“I suppose, little lady. How about you try knockin’ him on his ass first next time before ya go breakin’ things?”

“I think I can promise that.”

Bubba nodded. “Good enough for me. Ya don’t handle bar fights like that as sheriff of your town, do ya?”

Emma just laughed. She couldn’t exactly tell him that bar fights in Storybrooke usually involved sword fights and magic duels and the occasional dwarf pickaxe. “No, but then again most people in my town know not to call me a bitch.”

“Fair enough.”

Bubba walked off, starting to serve customers once again.

 

Emma was tired, cranky as hell, sore, sticky in places she shouldn’t be, and she knew she _reeked_ of cheap beer. As she crossed the town line into Storybrooke all she wanted to do was take a shower and pass out until morning when she could go see Regina. There was an electric current under her skin though. She remembered the feeling well. She was restless. So fucking restless her legs kept jiggling even as she tried her best to keep them still. This was how she always got right before she uprooted from a place and moved on.

Leaving Storybrooke was absolutely the last thing on her mind right now. But that didn’t dampen the current coursing through her veins. There was only one person that had been able to soothe her when she was like this and Regina was asleep and would be for hours yet. She sighed heavily. No matter how tired she was, she wasn’t going to be able to do anything productive in this state. Emma wasn’t even sure that she could convince herself to grab a shower while she waited for to be an appropriate time to go see Regina.

She stopped the bug in front of the station and got out. Emma flexed her shoulder blades. It felt like something, wings maybe, were about to burst forth from her back. She had to move. The twitching in her legs and tension in her back would dissipate if she just moved. Her legs started forward without her command, wandering up and down Storybrooke streets and back alleys with no rhyme or reason to her movement. The desire to run, to flee, to fly even, eased somewhat as her feet ghosted along the pavement. The wings in her back settled, they weren’t about to burst through anymore, but they rustled under her skin, speaking of other places she could soar to if she just let herself.

She used to love that feeling. It felt like freedom. It felt like endless possibility. The ability to start over new and make whatever she wanted of herself, to escape her past, to meet a slew of new people who wouldn’t know her from Adam, who didn’t know just where she had come from, the options left her breathless. God, it had been the only feeling that made her feel _safe_ until Regina had asked her out to dinner in that hospital room three years ago. She had needed to be in control of everything until she just hadn’t anymore. Love had taken control of her. And the thing was, she wouldn’t change it for anything.

So this feeling as if she needed to run again? It was driving her mad. It felt like she was ripping in two.

She walked and walked and walked, thoughts going in the same circles, always coming back to Regina and always coming back to love, until the sun finally crested the horizon. When the light registered in her distracted mind she practically ran back to the bug. Being able to breathe, to silence the rustling of wings, was just around the corner.

Emma hit the doorstep of 108 Mifflin just as the sun made it high enough to reflect off the windows of the house, lighting the house a golden pink. She ripped open the door, just managing to remember to throw off her boots and jacket at their respective places. The shower was running, the hum of the water through the pipes slightly soothing Emma. She sighed heavily. She was home. Regina was awake. The current started to diminish under her skin.

She made her way up the stairs and into their room. With Regina in the shower she couldn’t do anything about smelling like a distillery just yet, so with a longing glance at their bed she flopped down on the chaise. Emma threw an arm over her eyes gently, minding her bruise that felt sorer by the moment and waited for Regina to get out of the shower.

The water stopped a few minutes later. Emma bolted up from the chaise and sat on the edge of it for a moment before deciding she couldn’t wait. She shot up and walked over to the bathroom, throwing open the door. Regina let out a surprised squeak, fireball springing to the hand that wasn’t holding her towel up. When she realized it was Emma who had thrown open the door she rolled her eyes and extinguished the fireball.

“Really, Miss Swan, where have your manners gone?”

“Sorry,” Emma mumbled, looking down.

Regina walked over and titled Emma’s face up. Concern filled her eyes and she turned Emma so that she could survey the younger woman’s new bruise. “Emma, what happened?”

“Had to break up a bar fight last night.” Emma shrugged. “It was no big deal. I just didn’t step out of the way of a punch fast enough.”

Regina scowled. “It is a big deal if you were hurt in anyway.”

Emma snorted. “It could’ve been worse, but I know how to handle myself, Regina, I promise. You should see the other guy.” Emma shot her a cocky look.

“I do not care about the state of the other man.” Regina rolled her eyes. “Idiot, I care about you. I do not care if it’s your job to break up bar fights, I don’t want you hurt.”

 She lifted her fingers to Emma’s face and traced them over the bruise. Warmth suffused Emma’s being. Emma sighed and leaned into Regina’s fingers, eyes drooping closed. Emma always had loved the feeling of Regina’s magic flowing through her. A second later the warmth stopped but Regina’s hand remained.

“I’ll be more careful next time. But honestly this time I thought the threat was taken care of, the second guy just decided to take personal offense that a woman had defended him.”

“Even with you being their savior?” Regina snorted. “What am I saying, most of the people that inhabit this town are bigoted idiots.”

Emma shrugged. She couldn’t really disagree there. She stepped closer and wrapped Regina in her arms. The last of the electric under her skin stopped. Her eye lids start to droop closed again. She had been up a full 24 hours and now that the restlessness had left her she was finally tired.

“Yeah, needless to say it wasn’t exactly a pleasant night,” she mumbled into Regina’s hair.

Regina laid a kiss on Emma’s neck. “It doesn’t seem like it ,dear.”

They stayed in each other’s arms for a few long minutes, breathing each other in and seeking comfort in the other’s presence before Regina stepped back.

“Really, Miss Swan, you smell as if you drowned in liquor.” Her nose twitched a few times. Emma smiled at the cute gesture.

“Yeah well, I was standing rather close when they decided to smash each other in the head with rather full beer bottles.”

“Well then, I suggest a shower.” Regina stepped closer again, kissing Emma lightly. “While you’re at it I’ll go get dressed then start breakfast.”

Regina walked out into their room. Emma peaked around the door frame, shucking off her tank top and throwing it into the hamper.

“Hey, Regina?” she called to the other woman who had disappeared into the closet.

“Yes, Emma?” came the muffled reply.

“Wear something comfy? After the kid has gone off to do whatever with Paige or Ava and Nicholas you should come cuddle with me. I mean it is Saturday after all.”

Regina appeared in a t-shirt and yoga pants a few seconds later. “Way ahead of you, Miss Swan.” She ran the towel through her short hair once more before chucking it in the hamper as well.

Emma smiled brightly. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.” She peeled off the rest of her clothes and hopped into the shower a minute later.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma feels like a jackwagon. Again.

A week and a half later Emma couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. It wasn’t just an every now and again thing, either. It was every minute of every day. Until she crossed the town line. Then, and only then, was when the feeling left her. For those few hours a day she worked at Bubba’s the hair on the back of her neck did not stand on end.

She felt like she was going insane. Every time she looked around there was no one watching, just regular everyday Storybrooke citizens going about their business. There was no person who showed up more often than they should. No one acted even the least bit suspicious. No matter how much she tried to convince herself she was just imagining it, the feeling just didn’t go away no matter how little evidence she had to support her suspicions.

Yet again a shiver wracked her frame as she strolled into Granny’s at lunch time. Ruby smiled at her as she strutted her way between tables, delivering bits and pieces of people’s meals. Emma hopped up on one of the bar stools and waited for her best friend to cycle back to her. The waitress appeared a few minutes later, stowing her tray under the counter and grabbing her note pad from her apron pocket.

“Your normal, Ems?” Ruby shook her head, throwing her red streaked hair behind her shoulders.

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Emma bit her lip for a second before going on. “Ruby, have you noticed anyone watching me lately?”

Ruby’s face scrunched. “No, why?”

“I’ve just had this feeling for the past few days that someone has been watching me, but I never see anyone acting suspicious. It’s weird.”

Ruby shrugged. “Dunno, Ems. If I see anyone I’ll tell you, but it’s been business as normal, really.”

Emma nodded. “Thanks, Rubes.”

Ruby went off to place Emma’s order. She slid a hot chocolate in front of Emma before going off on another round of the restaurant. Emma sighed and slouched down on the bar. Maybe five and half weeks of working sixteen hours a day was getting to her. But she was almost halfway there. She couldn’t stop now, even if she was going a bit batty.

The bell over the diner door rang. Emma glanced up and smiled at her mother. Snow took a quick look around the restaurant as she was hanging up her coat and smiled back brightly at Emma once she spotted her. A minute later Snow was sitting on the stool beside Emma.

“Hi, Emma,” Snow said settling in.

“Hey.” Emma took a sip of her cocoa.

“Have you thought anymore about my suggestions for the proposal?”

Emma mentally groaned. The last thing that she wanted to do was think about the latest suggestions. She didn’t think it could get any worse than bluebird lingerie, but apparently it did. In what god forsaken world did _anyone_ think that anything to do with Medusa was appropriate for a proposal? God, did she really share half of her DNA with the woman sitting beside her?

“I’m not sure anything you suggested last time is really a good fit,” Emma said gently.

Snow visibly deflated. “Oh. I thought I really had it this time.”

“They were really…unique.” That was one way to put it. Horrible was another.

“That’s why I thought you would like them. I mean, it’s not like Regina is a traditional woman.”

“No, that’s definitely true.” Emma snorted.

Ruby appeared again. “Oooh, are you guys talking proposal? Did you think about the camping idea?”

At least that idea hadn’t been _quite_ so hideous. More just nothing that Regina would ever go for. “Uh, yeah, not exactly Regina’s thing, you know. At least without a hoard of servants to make the camping experience better.”

Ruby shrugged it off. “Yeah, true. It was an idea, though.”

Emma thought for a minute. “You still have enough time to get reservations at Lumiere’s?”

Ruby’s eyes lit up. “You bet. Is that what you want to do?”

After six weeks of crackpot ideas it was definitely the one that appealed to Emma the most. “Yeah, I think so.”

The wolf started to bounce on her toes. “Oh awesome! I’ll call Lumiere tonight and arrange everything. I’ll make sure you guys get the most romantic table and everything. You said that you wanted to do everything three days after you’re supposed to get the ring?”

Emma nodded.

“Ok! Don’t worry I’ll set everything up for you.”

Emma bit the inside of her cheek. Hopefully she wasn’t getting over her head. “Thanks, Rubes.”

Ruby gasped. “I know what you can do activity-wise!” She looked over at Mary Margret excitedly. “You can come to our production of Macbeth!”

“What?” Emma tilted her head to the side. This was the first she’d ever heard of this.

“I wanted to put on a classical play for the children of Storybrooke,” Snow said. “So I took action and put together some funding and got some community support and now I’m the director of the play.” She shrugged. “I held auditions last week, Ruby is our Lady Macbeth. The first performance is scheduled for the night you’re going to propose. Henry’s volunteered to be a stage hand, too.”

Emma scowled. “I’m missing a lot working so much, aren’t I?”

Both women shrugged.

 “Yeah,”

 “Sort of, sweetie.” They both said at once.

She sighed. Well. Only six more weeks of being completely fucking oblivious.

She looked between her mother and her best friend. A play was classy, granted it wasn’t going to be anywhere near Broadway, but Regina did have a certain fondness for Shakespeare, especially his tragedies. It wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe if she coupled dinner and play with some stellar bedroom activities this proposal wouldn’t be half bad. Emma swirled around her cocoa in her cup, maybe not as stellar as she was hoping, but she was using what she had to work with.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Emma finally said.

Ruby squealed and jumped up and down. “Oh Em, you’re both gonna love it!”

Emma smiled at her friend.

Behind the counter Gaston yelled “Order up!”

Ruby shot them both an apologetic look and went back to doing her job, leaving the mother and daughter to their lunch. Emma sipped the last of her cocoa. At least most of the planning was done. Now all she had to do was work six more weeks. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up yet again. It was going to be a long six weeks.

 

Another week and not only did she feel like she was being watched in Storybrooke but out of Storybrooke as well. It was ridiculous. The only people who could leave Storybrooke were her, Henry, and Regina and she certainly would realize if they were the ones following her everywhere.

She was starting to get abnormally jumpy. What if someone from the outside had figured out Storybrooke’s secret? What if it had been her fault coming and going from town so much? Every time someone raised their voice or slammed down a shot glass anymore she was flinching.

After one particularly noticeable jump Bubba sidled up to her.

“What’s got ya so jumpy, little lady?” he asked, drying a glass with a clean dish rag.

“Nothing.” Emma shrugged.

Bubba just looked at her. “Uh huh. Ain’t nothin’ good came of lyin’.”

Emma heaved a sigh, shoulders slumping as she leaned on the bar. Bubba was going to think she was crazy. Emma’s hand came up to rub at the back of her neck.

“It’s stupid.”

“Now let me be the judge of that.” Bubba put the glass down and turned to her, giving her his full attention.

“It’s just—for the last two weeks or so I’ve felt like someone been watching me and following me around. Last week it was only in town, but now it’s here too. It’s got me a little on edge.”

Bubba nodded. “Understandable, little lady. Ya done any investigatin’ about who could be watchin’ ya?”

Emma shook her head. “The thing is, I don’t know anyone who would or what they would have to gain even if there was someone. I’m not exactly worth spying on, you know? What you see is what you get, mostly.”

Except for the fact that she was the child of Snow White and Prince Charming and the savior of literally almost all fairytale characters ever complete with shiny blue magic, but it wasn’t like Bubba needed to know that. Some days Emma didn’t even want to know.

“Somehow I highly doubt that, little lady, but that’s a different kettle of fish.” Bubba looked her over carefully, almost as if he was searching for something. “Ya really can’t think of no one who would check up on ya?”

“Obviously if I knew I’d have taken care of it by now. It’s sorta driving me crazy.”

Bubba just looked at her. “Ya haven’t done nothin’ stupid like lie to your woman about this second job, have ya?”

Emma looked down and wrung her hands. “Well, I mean I haven’t _lied_ to her exactly.”

“Lyin’ by omission still counts.”

“Well if you frame it that way…” Emma trailed off, suddenly finding literally anything else in the room to be the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

“That’s what I thought.” Bubba sighed and shook his head. “I get that ya want everythin’ to be special and a surprise, but what would ya think if your woman just disappeared for eight hours a day?”

“Well, I’m not disappearing…she thinks I switched shifts with my deputy to work nights and I’m sleeping while she’s at work.”

Bubba just stared at her. “I’m not sure I’ve heard a more stupid story than the one you’re spinnin’ me, little lady.”

“Hey! It was a good plan.”

“Uh huh, did ya really think it was a good idea to lie to your woman like that? This ain’t no ‘no sweetie I think ya look great in that outfit’ grade lie. What do ya think will happen if she found out?”

Worst case? Death, destruction, possibly cursing them all back to the realm they’d all come from. Best? A fireball thrown at her head and sleeping on the couch for at least a month and maybe a reappearance of wheatgrass for every meal. Oh, and no sex until Henry hit college.

“I don’t know. Nothing good.” Emma said.

Bubba nodded. “Right, well, ya think this whole ‘someone is watchin’ you’ business is just your conscience tellin’ ya what a jack wagon you’re bein’? She’s your woman, little lady. Did ya not think she deserved to know the truth about where ya are? Ya aren’t supposed to lie to your girl, Swan. Hell, if ya wanted to keep the proposal a secret ya could have just lied about why ya needed the extra money, not where ya were. That’s just stupid.”

Emma ground the toe of her boot into the ground. “Yeah…I guess you’re right.”

“Damn straight I am.”

“But I would’ve realized if Regina was following me. I could pick her out of a crowd at five miles.”

“Like I said, guilty conscience. I think you’re just damn lucky your woman hasn’t found out. I’d be tellin’ her as soon as possible to fix this little mess you’ve made, little lady.”

Emma’s face was bright red. “Uh, yeah I guess.”

Bubba nodded. “Good.” He picked up the glass he’d cleaned and walked off to serve some more customers.

Emma wanted to melt into a puddle on the spot. God, she really had had her head up her ass lately hadn’t she? She and Regina both had trust issues. How could she have ever thought lying was a good option? She pressed a hand to her eyes and rubbed. Love had made her too fucking stupid to even understand what the woman she loved really needed.

If there wasn’t a fuckton of irony in that statement.

She went back to tending bar, plastering a smile on her face. She still had to make enough money for the ring after all even if she was the world’s biggest jackass. God, maybe she really had inherited the Charming stupidity. She sighed and started to flip a few bottles without her normal flair.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma gets up the courage to tell Regina. Sort of.

It took her two more days to actually work up the courage to sit down next to Regina at breakfast with the right words on her tongue, ready to spill out at a moment’s notice. She had thought long and hard about what she was going to say. It had to be perfect and it had to be framed in a way that still wouldn’t give away the proposal. It also had to explain just how much of a jackass she was and how most days it wasn’t Regina who wasn’t worthy of Emma it was the other way around. Regina wouldn’t have pulled this shit over on her. Emma knew that with more certainty than she had in the fact that she wanted to wake up in Regina’s arms for the rest of her life.

God, she really had a fucking lot to make up for. Hopefully this apology would be a good start and the proposal would finish up strong. Jesus, did she hope.

She reached across the table and grabbed Regina’s hand. The other woman had been rather quiet this morning, but that was ok. It worked in Emma’s favor really. She opened her mouth just as Regina slipped her hand out of Emma’s. Emma scowled down at her empty hand. Regina never did that after such a short time. She valued the casually intimate touches they shared.

Emma looked at Regina’s hand now resting primly in her lap. Regina went on eating her breakfast like nothing was wrong. Emma bit the inside of her cheek. Maybe Regina was just tired and cranky? It definitely wasn’t unheard of for her to reject physical contact then, but that was only when she was really far gone. Emma surveyed her lovers face but found none of the signs of the bone deep exhaustion that would be at the root of that particular problem.

Emma laid her fork down. The clink of metal against china had Regina looking up from her breakfast and to Emma. A fake smile lit her face.

“Something wrong dear? She asked in a saccharinely sweet voice.

“Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Emma said pitching her voice so it wouldn’t be viewed as something hostile. 

“Why would anything be wrong with me?” Regina cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re acting weird.”

“I don’t see anything abnormal about my behavior, Miss Swan.”

“You won’t let me hold your hand.” Emma gestured at the hand resting in Regina’s lap.

“And how is that abnormal?” Regina went back to meticulously cutting up her breakfast.

“You always let me hold your hand until you need it. You like when I hold your hand. The only time you don’t is when you’ve been up for so long you’re seeing double and blowing up half the town seems like a good idea to you again.”

Regina looked up at her sharply. “I fail to see your point, Miss Swan.”

“Well, obviously you aren’t that tired so there has to be something else wrong. Are you mad at me Regina? I can’t fix whatever made you mad unless I know about it.”

“Nothing is wrong, Miss Swan. Perhaps you’re reading too much into things.”

“There’s never such a thing as reading too much into something with you, Regina.”

Regina’s fork scraped loudly against her plate. Emma winced at the noise. She had definitely just stuck her foot in her mouth spectacularly.

“What does that mean, Miss Swan?”

“Nothing, Regina, just that you’re a complicated woman who’s been taught to hide her feelings for most of her life. Every gesture has a meaning with you. So why don’t you tell me what’s wrong. Whatever it is I didn’t mean to upset you.”

There was no way that Emma was going to spill about her job at Bubba’s until whatever had Regina on edge right now was cleared up. She didn’t need to add fuel to what looked to be an already raging fire. Emma wasn’t suicidal.

“It’s _nothing_ , Miss Swan. Nothing is wrong. Drop it.”

“But the thing is, Regina, you haven’t called me anything but Miss Swan all morning. I mean usually you slip in a few Emma’s in there somewhere if you’re just communicating your displeasure at a really bad pun or something stupid like that.”

Regina visibly swallowed. “Emma, I assure you, nothing is wrong. I am just tired.”

“Regina—”

Regina stood up quickly, chair almost flipping over behind her. “Enough, sheriff! Now, if you’ll excuse me I must get to work.”

Regina stalked out of the room quickly, the front door closing loudly behind her. Emma sat at the table, staring at her plate distantly for a few seconds. Well, that hadn’t gone anywhere near to plan.

She looked out the window, catching the tail end of Regina’s Mercedes disappear. That hadn’t gone anywhere near to plan and it looked like she was in deep shit for something. God, she would do anything to make whatever she did up to Regina…if only she actually knew what the hell she’d done wrong. It wasn’t like Regina knew about the job at Bubba’s yet. She couldn’t know. Emma was _sure_ that she wouldn’t have recognized Regina following her around.

But other than that Emma had no clue what she could have done. She hadn’t been around enough to say something really stupid to Regina. She hadn’t taken Henry on any impromptu trips without permission anymore. She hadn’t come home piss drunk from a girl’s night with Ruby in ages. Hell, she hadn’t even put herself in some stupid harebrained situation that put her in some sort of danger since Gothel had been detained the year before. She literally hadn’t done anything that normally pissed off Regina.

Emma swallowed hard. She was in some deep shit. She sighed heavily and started to clear away the breakfast dishes. As she scraped the remains of Regina’s omelet into the trash she had an idea.

Henry. Maybe he would know what was wrong with his mother. He’d at least been around more than Emma had. Maybe he had heard Regina muttering about something that could at least point Emma in the right way. Anything at this point would be a blessing.

She looked at the clock. Only eight hours until she got some answers. She scrunched her eyes shut and rubbed at her temples. Today was going to be a long day. She grabbed her leather jacket and headed out the door.

 

  Exactly at three o’clock the doors to Henry’s school burst open and a stream of kids came pouring out. Emma wasn’t sure if there was a more annoying sound than pre-teen chatter. There was a limit on the amount of times she could hear the word penis screamed at the top of some 14 year old boy’s lungs before Emma lost her sense of humor. She wasn’t sure how she survived middle school without murdering a few people.

Henry finally emerged from the school towards the back of the crowd. He spotted Emma’s bug immediately and rushed over to it. Sometimes it was nice having such a recognizable car.

“Emma!” Henry shouted practically ripping the door off its hinges.

“Hey kid.” She smiled warmly at him.

“It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.” He threw his bag in the back seat and turned to her once again.

“Yeah, sorry. Everything has been crazy lately with the two jobs.” She reached over and mussed his hair.

Henry scowled and patted his hair back in place quickly. “Why aren’t you at work now, though?”

Emma held up her cell phone. “I rerouted all of the station’s calls to my cell phone so I could spend some time with you.” She sighed and looked at her phone before throwing it in the bug’s cup holder. “Also I might need your help.”

Henry titled his head. “I thought you had everything planned? I told you everything sounded good.”

Emma shook her head. “Not about the proposal, kid. I managed to piss off your Mom royally, but I have no idea what I did wrong. You’re the only one who would have any idea about what I did.”

Emma shifted the bug into gear and turned towards Granny’s. She might as well treat the kid while she had the time. She really did hate that she hadn’t have any time with her family recently. Five weeks to go until she could be with them like normal again.

Henry looked at her levelly. “Well, she really doesn’t like you being gone so much.”

“I’m not a big fan of it either, but she understands why I’m gone. I’ve been training the new volunteer deputies so they can take over the night shift from David to keep up the cover and everything.”

“Yeah. But Mom isn’t stupid, Ma.”

“What do you mean?”

Henry sighed and looked out the window. “Did you ever think that you not spending any time with us would make Mom worry that you didn’t want us—her anymore?”

“Why would she worry about that? That’s the complete opposite of what I want.”

“Yeah, well, actions speak louder than words, Ma. Mom believes that more than the average person because of all the manipulative bastards she’s known.”

“Henry, language.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “What, it’s true. It’s not exactly like Mr. Gold is a great guy.”

Emma snorted. “True, but still.”

Henry turned to look at her again as she threw the bug into park in front of Granny’s. “Think about it, Ma. Even if Mom knows exactly where you are and exactly what you’re doing and why she’s still going to worry that it’s something she’s done. She’s going to worry she’s driving you away, that you don’t really love her.” His eyes hardened. “You’re hurting her and you don’t even realize it.”

“Henry, I—”

Henry just shot her another glare that shut her up.

“You haven’t exactly been around to make her think differently. You’re so busy trying to cover up the fact that you’re working two jobs that you aren’t acting like you normally would. Ma, what would you be doing if you really were working Gramps shift instead of yours?”

“Well, I—”

Henry didn’t let her finish. “You’d be there practically every day with lunch. And then you’d probably accidently fall asleep on her couch. Mom would let you sleep there until it was time for you to go home and get ready for your shift. There’d be flowers on her desk at least once a week or chocolate or something to show just how sorry you were about having to work nights. On the weekends you wouldn’t ever leave her side no matter what happened. Have you done any of that?”

She just stared at Henry.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, Ma.” Henry crossed his arms.

Emma chuckled weakly. “I guess this is the pay back for reaming your ass three years ago about your Mom being the Evil Queen, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” he said shortly. Henry popped open the door and walked into Granny’s.

Emma followed after a second of sitting in the bug looking after him. She found him in the booth farthest in the back, arms crossed on the table, chin resting on top of them lightly, brow furrowed. Emma slid in on the other side, red leather squeaking slightly underneath her. She sat quietly, staring at Henry. She sensed the kid wasn’t quite done yet.

A few minutes later after Ruby had set down two hot chocolates in front of them he spoke up again. “This is supposed to be our happy ending. It doesn’t feel like it at all. You’re gone all the time. You have no idea what’s going on anymore. God, I’m starting to miss you teasing me about Paige. You don’t know that I got her to agree to go to the Spring Fling with me. You just aren’t _here._ I don’t feel like I have a second mom anymore. I feel like I have some dead beat Dad or something that’s always promising it’s going to get better but it never does. So yeah, I get why Mom is mad at you. Maybe if you got your head out of your ass you’d see it too.”

“Henry,” Emma pleaded. “I really didn’t know that you felt like this. I’m sorry I made you feel like I was never around, like I didn’t care about what’s going on. I do. I really, really do. And if there was any other way to get the money I needed for your Mom’s ring I’d do it. It’s almost over. Just a little over a month and everything will be good again. But I’ll try harder in the meantime to be around, ok? God, I really don’t want to win the shitty parent and girlfriend of the year award, you know? I can only try and fix the things I know about and I didn’t know you felt this way, I swear. I’m only human Henry.”

Henry huffed, looking down into his hot chocolate. “Yeah, well, you know now. So fix it.”

“I really will try.” Emma reached across the table and squeezed Henry’s shoulder. “So. While we’re here why don’t you update me about this whole dance situation? How in the world did you get her to go with you? Did you use the smooth moves you inherited from me?”

Henry snorted, trying to keep the edges of his mouth from curling up, but failing. “Alright, Ma, but trust me any moves I inherited were from Mom.”

“You wound me.” Emma clutched her chest overdramatically.

Henry rolled his eyes. “Let’s face it, Ma. You’re corny. Mom’s the smooth talker in the family.”

“I can’t really disagree there, can I?”

“No, now shut up so I can tell you.”

Emma threw her napkin at Henry but stayed quiet anyway.

Henry launched into his tail about asking Paige out. Emma smiled and laughed at all the right places, finally feeling a little more like normal after everything that had happened today. They stayed talking at the diner until Emma had to get ready to leave for Bubba’s. She grabbed her to-go order and carted the kid back to the house.

As the bug pulled up to the mansion Emma took out her cell phone and unlocked it. She handed it to Henry. He looked at her curiously before reading it.

“So tell me, kid, how fucked am I with your Mom?” she asked as he started to scroll up to view more of the conversation she’d had earlier when she told Regina she was going to pick Henry up.

Henry glanced up at her, handing back her cell. “Fucked up a creek without a paddle, or even a boat for that matter.”

She shot him a look for the language, but couldn’t really negate what he’d said. She looked down at the last text message Regina had sent: **Whatever suits your needs sheriff.** She sighed heavily and put her phone away again.

“Gonna take more than a hot chocolate and talking isn’t it?”

“You’re gonna be groveling for a while.”

Well fuck. “Thanks kid, I’ll see what I can do in the groveling department.”

Henry laughed once and then launched himself out of the car. “See you later, Ma.”

“Bye kid,” she shouted after him as he shot up the walk.

She put the bug into gear again and rumbled off towards Bubba’s once more.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina's sending mixed signals. Emma, strangely, doesn't mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you aren't fond of sex scenes skip from the second break down. You won't miss anything plot wise, I promise. I cut It so it wouldn't affect anything if you didn't read the glorious smut fest that is the last half of this chapter.

The next day Emma walked into Regina’s office juggling a bunch of things: take out from Regina’s favorite restaurant, oddly a little hole in the wall place that made the best chicken noodle soup that Emma had ever tasted; of bouquet of all of Regina’s favorite flowers, honeysuckle, tiger lilies, and apple blossoms; a bottle of wine; and a card that said “Sorry I fucked up.” Emma thought that maybe the card was a little over the top, but at the same time she couldn’t convince herself to leave it out either. She thought if nothing else it would get Regina to smile a little. She would take what she could get at this point.

Emma smiled shyly when Regina looked up from her desk. “Hey.”

Regina bit her lip and regarded Emma carefully. “Hey,” she finally replied after a long minute.

“Um, I brought lunch. And uh, flowers. Oh, and a card saying just how much of a jackass I am.” Emma tried to gesture at all the stuff in her arms but only succeeded it almost dropping all of it on the floor.

“I can see that, Miss Swan.”

Emma waddled over to the conference table and set everything down carefully. She picked up the flowers again and walked over to Regina, holding them out like a white flag. The older woman stood and accepted them silently, going over to a cabinet and pulling out a vase. She placed them on the corner of her desk, pouring in water from the pitcher she kept in the room at all times.

Regina caressed a honeysuckle blossom thoughtfully. “Do you know the meanings of these flowers, Miss Swan?”

Emma titled her head to the side, confused. What did this have to do with anything? “No, they really didn’t have a class on that in juvie.”

“I suppose they wouldn’t.” Regina stroked the petal of a tiger lily. “Orange lilies indicate desire and passion.” Her fingers trailed to an apple blossom. “Apple blossoms denote preference.” Regina’s fingers then stilled on a honeysuckle flower yet again. “And honeysuckle represent _devoted_ affection.”

Emma was even more confused now. What exactly was Regina trying to say? Was she trying to say anything at all? Or was this just another one of her rants like that time she told Emma any and all facts that she could think of about apples?

“Uh, that’s nice? I, um—well the only real meaning I know is red roses mean love.”

“True love actually, darling.” She turned to look at Emma, eyebrow cocked. “Though in our case right now I’d say a yellow rose is more fitting.”

“What does yellow represent?”

Regina turned back to the flowers again. “Even you have Google, Miss Swan. Perhaps you should use it.”

“Uh, um, ok, Regina. You’re being really fucking cryptic right now and I don’t think it’s helping. I’m trying to make up for whatever I did, even though I have no idea what. I’m really trying my best, you know? So I brought you chicken soup from Nina’s with some of those rolls you really, really like and your favorite wine. And that card that says I’m an asshole, too, just so maybe I could see you smile.”

“I don’t think food or cards will make up for your infraction this time.”

Emma groaned loudly. “Then tell me what will! Regina, I’m _trying_ how many more times do I have to say that? But you are literally a mystery wrapped in an enigma with a chewy secret center. Sometimes you have to give me a clue in order for me to actually bumble my way to what you actually want because sometimes I’m really fucking dense.”

Emma stopped her rant and took a deep breath. “Regina, all I know is that I want to make this work between us because I love you so damn much most days it should probably be illegal. And I may be stupid, and I may make really fucking dumb mistakes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to fix them somehow. You’re the best damn thing I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t want to lose you just because I make really crappy decisions sometimes.” Emma looked at the floor. “I don’t want you to push me away. I don’t think—I’m not sure—I just…” Emma trailed off. She couldn’t find the words to express just how devastated she would be if Regina left her.

Regina turned again, surveying Emma with an inscrutable expression.

“It’s just that you’ve been pushing me away for the past couple of days and combine that with the fact that I haven’t seen you really in weeks and I haven’t been with you in weeks either…It just—I just don’t think sometimes and sometimes outside stress just makes me want to run and I do stupid shit. You know?”

Regina sighed lightly and walked over to Emma. Her hands came to Emma’s cheeks and wiped the few tears that had managed to escape. She lifted Emma’s face and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Emma’s arms found their way around Regina’s waist and tugged the smaller woman closer.

“I know, Emma. We both have our fair share of problems.” Regina nuzzled into Emma’s neck.

They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms for a few long minutes before Regina pulled back again. Regina smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in her skirt before looking up at Emma again. Her mask was fully in place once again and Emma didn’t like it one bit. What the hell had she done that Regina felt the need to be so guarded around her?

“Thank you for the food, Miss Swan, but I have a busy day today so I’m afraid I can’t spend much time with you today if you don’t mind.”

Emma sighed heavily. “Yeah, ok.” She turned towards the door. “Have a good day Regina. I love you.”

She heard Regina walking back behind her desk. “Emma?” She called just as Emma was about to grab for the door handle.

Emma turned around again to face the other woman. “Yeah?”

“Look up the meanings of a yellow rose. I think that might give you the clue you need.”

Emma’s face scrunched but she nodded. “Ok, Regina, I will.”

Regina nodded. “Have a good day, Miss Swan.”

“Bye.” Emma turned once again and made her way out the door.

 

Emma woke up on Saturday just after noon to an empty bed. She wasn’t surprised that Regina hadn’t come back to bed to cuddle with her, but it still stung just a little bit. She stretched and sat up. Her ears picked up no sound coming from the rest of the house. A scowl crossed her face. Not only was she alone in bed but she was alone period. Definitely not how she wanted to spend her Saturday. She could go seek out Regina, though she had no idea where she was, but Emma thought she could probably figure it out quickly enough. But that was probably a bad idea. Regina was still mad at her.

Her eyes widened. She had totally forgotten to look up what the meaning of a yellow rose. She mentally cursed Duchess and Pongo for both managing to get out in the same day. By the time she had rounded them up it had been time for her to shoot off to Bubba’s and of course there was no time to look up anything at the bar on a Friday night.  When she had gotten home late last night she had completely forgotten about everything but her bed at Snow’s.

Emma reached over to her night stand and fumbled around for her phone blindly. With some clattering her phone ended up in her hand a few seconds later. She pulled up Google and typed in flower meanings. She clicked on the first link that popped up and scrolled down to the entry on roses. Emma’s eyes tracked over the yellow rose entry. Zealous? How the hell did that give her a clue as to what was wrong between her and Regina? Did Regina think she was trying too hard or something? Not fucking likely considering how absent she’d been lately.

She clicked the back button and clicked on another link. This one yielded forgive and forget, happiness, joy and affection. Regina wasn’t exactly the forgiving and forgetting type.  The rest of that list wasn’t a bad thing, even if they were having a few problems right then in the joy and happiness department.

Emma groaned loudly and clicked out of that link. She picked another link at random and hoped it would yield some answers. Yellow was for friendship. She threw her phone down. This was why she hated research. Contradicting answers. She scrubbed her hands over her face. God even knew if flowers here had the same meanings as they did in Fairy Tale Land. She was just going to ask Regina and fuck this shit. She had tried, but since there was no agreement between any of the pages she had visited she wasn’t going to rely on anything the internet provided her. It was best to just get it from the horse’s mouth.

Even if that particular horse was going to beat around the bush until kingdom come just to delay giving Emma one God damn straight answer.

Geesh. If she didn’t love Regina more than life itself this goose chase would be abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous. Emma missed the good old days when her problems were straightforward. Like ogres coming for her head. Yeah, she totally knew how to deal with that a hell of a lot better.

But there was no use sitting around in an empty house on one of her few afternoons off. She got up and started to get ready for the day. She’d call Regina and see if the other woman would actually pick up the phone. If she didn’t she’d just head over to Granny’s or something and grab some take out and bring it back and maybe marathon a season of Lost Girl or something. She was getting woefully behind. And maybe she could live vicariously through Bo. God knew she wasn’t getting any anytime soon.

She fluffed her hair lightly in the downstairs mirror, curls falling lightly around her shoulders as she punched the first number in her speed dial and put the phone to her ear. Emma grabbed her red leather jacket out of the foyer closet and slipped it on as the phone continued to ring. By the time she’d zipped it up the phone had flicked over to voice mail. Emma sighed heavily. That’s what she had figured would happen, but she still hoped she would be wrong.

She listened to Regina’s almost robotic greeting and waited for the beep. “Hey, Regina, I was just wondering where you are since nobody’s home and there wasn’t a note on the nightstand. Anyway, if you get this I’m going to go grab take out from Granny’s and then come home for a marathon of Lost Girl if you’d like to join me? I’d really like that. If you get this anytime soon call me with your order…or maybe I’ll just grab you your usual lunch order. Uh, I guess call me if you want anything different? Right, I hope to see you later. Bye, Regina, I love you.”

Emma hung up the phone and rolled her eyes at her own idiotic babbling. Jesus, it was a wonder Regina had ever gotten with her considering just how eloquent and well-spoken the older woman was, and Emma was the exact opposite of articulate most days.

She shoved her phone in her back pocket and grabbed her keys out of the bowl by the door and walked out to the bug. When she got to Granny’s she asked around about Regina, but no one had seen her. It seemed like she wasn’t the only one that Regina didn’t want to see. Maybe it was just one of the days Regina didn’t feel like being social. Those happened every so often, but usually she still managed to appear sometime in the middle of the day to curl up in Emma’s arms silently. Maybe if Emma went home and started to watch Lost Girl Regina would appear by her side in the middle of an episode, not saying anything and curl up next to her. And then she would wait a few episodes and turn to Regina and ask just what yellow roses meant in the Enchanted Forest because Emma had gotten mixed reviews from Google about what they meant here.

Emma smiled. That actually sort of sounded pleasant. She grabbed her food as soon as it was ready and headed back home. A few minutes later she was curled up on their couch munching happily on her grilled cheese and tomato soup as Bo dashed around with Kenzi trying to figure out yet another Fae dilemma.

 

Towards the end of the first episode she perked up when she heard the tap-tap of heels on marble. Regina was home. She looked towards the doorway into the living room and waited. The other woman had to have heard her in here. Hopefully exactly what Emma wanted to happen was about to play out.

When Regina reached the doorway Emma’s jaw dropped. Regina definitely wasn’t about to come curl up on the couch with her. If anything she looked like she was going to fuck her ten ways to Sunday in her black six inch platform heels, black sheer stockings and garter belt, a thong that Emma wasn’t even sure was there, and black corset with red stitching. Emma was pretty sure her brain had short circuited.

“R-Regina?”

Regina stalked towards her, twirling a riding crop between her fingers. The site made Emma’s mouth go completely dry and her core start to throb. The bottom of the riding crop came to rest under Emma’s chin, lifting her face to look up at Regina.

“Miss Swan, I think you’re actions require more punishment than just few meals accented with wheatgrass, don’t you?”

“I—um—things?” Emma couldn’t form a complete sentence.

Regina smirked. “Do you trust me, Miss Swan?”

“With my life,” Emma replied without hesitation or stutter. She didn’t need her brain to know that.

The older woman nodded, pleased. “Good.” She held out her hand to Emma. “Come with me then.”

Emma took her hand without hesitation. It seemed that she was about to get even luckier than Bo. She felt like she was about to pass out as her eyes swept up and down Regina’s form again.

Regina led them up to their bedroom and shut the door behind them. “Strip, Miss Swan. And if anything I do at all is too much for you your safe word is apple, understand?”

Emma nodded mutely.

“I need you to say the word, dear.”

“Apple.”

Regina smirked yet again. “Good. Now strip Miss Swan.” The riding crop hit Regina’s palm with a smack.

Emma set to work removing her clothes while trying not to fall over. How the hell Regina had gone from not wanting Emma to touch her to this she had no idea, but she wasn’t complaining. Or maybe she should. She shot another look at Regina and scrapped that thought immediately. Everything could be dealt with later. Right now her pants were doing all her thinking for her.

She stood naked before Regina a minute later. The cold air ghosted across her skin, sending shivers across her body. Regina’s pupils dilated noticeably as the muscles twitched below Emma’s skin. Emma swallowed and licked her lips. It looked like she wasn’t the only one who had really missed their sexcapades.

Regina stalked forward coming within inches of Emma. Emma stifled the need to reach out and grab the other woman and pull the brunette towards her. She had a feeling in this particular situation that wouldn’t be appreciated. Regina dragged the edge of the riding crop down Emma’s front slowly, keeping eye contact with her the whole time. Emma felt her muscles twitch and jump at the contact. Her eyes struggled to stay open. Every touch in her state seemed like sensory overload.

 “Get on the bed, Miss Swan. Ass up. Now.”

Emma scrambled over to the bed and complied with Regina’s directions. Air whispered behind her, indicating Regina had followed her. Emma sat still for a few long moments waiting for Regina to touch her, waiting for her to do _anything_ to her, but nothing came. When a whisper came from right behind her ear Emma almost hit the ceiling.

“Now, Miss Swan, exactly how many hits do you think you deserve for your punishment.”

Considering she still had no idea what she did? “However many you think, Madam Mayor.”

She could practically hear Regina smirking.

“Very good answer, Miss Swan.” Regina trailed the tip of the riding crop from the top of Emma’s spine to right above her ass. “I think ten to start would suffice. Count them for me, Miss Swan.”

The air whistled around the riding crop as it came down on her ass. Emma cried out as the pain radiated through her, but after a second it faded into something that closely resembled pleasure. Well, that was different, unexpected, and entirely pleasant.

“One,” she called out after a deep breath.

“Very good, Miss Swan. I’m glad to see you do remember numbers. You had me worrying there for a minute.”

Emma just buried her face in the comforter instead of sassing back. She really didn’t have the mental capacity for anything clever right then. The blows came in quick succession after that, raining down evenly on both cheeks. Everything started to blend together. She was struggling to remember just exactly what number she was on. She was struggling to focus on anything other the waves of pain and pleasure coursing through her. Her arousal was dripping down her thighs. She didn’t know if it was the long wait or what was being done to her, but she was pretty sure she’d never been this turned on so quickly.

“T-t-ten,” she finally managed to stutter out.

Regina hummed her approval behind her. A cool hand came up to her backside and stroked lightly. Emma moaned at the soothing feeling, little zings of pain still rocketing through her. A kiss was placed to the base of her spine.

“I do believe that’s quite enough of that.” Regina’s voice was low and rough, liquid sex that sent another jolt of arousal through Emma. She felt like she was about to combust.

Emma heard Regina move away from her and she whimpered. Regina chuckled but didn’t move back towards her again. Emma wanted to look around but found her arms didn’t have enough strength to lift her up right now. Instead she listened carefully for Regina’s movements and thought she heard a rustle in the closet.

A second later Regina was back in the room. “Turn over, Miss Swan, with your hands towards the headboards.”

Emma managed, with a little struggle, to flip herself how Regina asked. She saw that Regina was holding their set of cuffs and swallowed hard. They had experimented with bondage before, but Emma thought that tonight was going to take that to a whole ‘nother level.

Regina looked at her again, eyes probing.  Emma just looked back at her, trying to communicate just how much she loved and trusted the other woman, and nodded slightly. Regina took the cue and started to fix Emma’s hands to the headboard. Emma sighed as the leather clasped around her wrists. Every little touch was sending arcs of pleasure through her.

When her wrists were secure Regina pulled back and held up a strip of cloth. A blindfold. That was new. Neither of them liked to be without their senses. Knowing everything that was going on around them had kept them alive at one point. Still, Emma regarded the strip of cloth carefully. She trusted her enough to go to town on her with a riding crop. She trusted Regina with her life. A blindfold wasn’t exactly something over the top in that light so she nodded.

Regina affixed the blindfold, tying it behind her head efficiently. Without sight Emma felt as if she was floating unanchored. It was strange knowing she couldn’t see and knowing there was really nothing she could do about it. Within seconds her skin became even more sensitive, making up for her loss of sight. She felt like she could feel every thread in the sheets below her, every speck of dust in the air. It was maddening. She tried to rub her legs together to relieve some of the pressure building and building within her.

“Ah, ah, Miss Swan.” Regina pried her legs apart, lithe fingers trailing fire along the skin of her ankles. “You only get relief when I say.”

Emma whimpered, but didn’t make a move to close her legs again once Regina set them down. Regina’s fingers hovered over her ankles again before trailing slowly up her body, deliberately avoiding her aching center before continuing their journey. Regina’s other hand came up and tweaked one of Emma’s nipples hard. Emma cried out, arching into the contact. Regina’s hand pushed her back onto the mattress.

“Don’t move or I’ll leave you here for as long as I see fit. Do you understand, Miss Swan?” Fingers traced her jaw lightly.

Emma nodded.

“Use your words, dear.”

“Yes, Madam Mayor.”

“Good girl.”

Regina’s fingers resumed exploring again, tickling ribs, lightly cupping her breasts, tracing scars and stretch marks. Emma longed to squirm and writhe underneath the touches but refused to move for fear of Regina actually following through on her threat. She would literally go insane if she was left like this.

A finger swiped through her wet core and she couldn’t help but jerk then. Regina, however, just chuckled darkly. Emma waited for the touch to come back once again but it never did. Instead, sucking sounds came from where she imagined Regina to be. Emma’s eyes widened when she realized that Regina must be sucking her essence from her fingers. The obscene pictures that her mind conjured stoked the fire within her that much more. Was human combustion a thing? Because she was sure she was close to just immolating right then and there.

The sucking sounds stopped and a wet finger came to circle one of her nipples. It hardened even further until it was almost painful. Yet another whimper escaped Emma’s mouth.

“Now, now, Miss Swan, whining never got anyone anywhere. Begging on the other hand…”

“Please, God, Regina, please I’ll do anything.”

“Anything for what, dear?”

“Just actually fucking touch me, please!” Emma exclaimed, starting to squirm without meaning to.

“Mmm, and why should I? You’ve been quite the bad girl lately, Emma.”

“Please, Regina, I’ll make it up to you if you just fuck me. God, I’ll buy you the moon or something.”

Regina laughed. “Not exactly what I’m after dear, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

Lush lips captured hers in a searing kiss. Emma moaned loudly. That was so much better. Regina’s tongue was in her mouth the second she opened it, exploring, plundering, claiming Emma as her own. Emma let her, happy to take a back seat as long as she was getting what she wanted.

Regina pulled back, panting for breath, forehead still resting against Emma’s. “I think before I touch you, you should have to do something for me first. It’s only fair.”

“Anything.”

The bed shifted under Emma as Regina climbed up on it. She heard a couple of thunks and assumed that Regina had thrown off her heels. Regina climbed up her body slowly, letting the fabric of her corset and stockings brush up against Emma tauntingly. When Regina had crawled up far enough a light bulb clicked off in Emma’s head and her mouth watered. Regina wanted her to eat her out. Emma shivered in anticipation.

Knees came to rest on either side of Emma’s head and the sweet musky smell of Regina hit her full in the face. Once Regina was fully settled Emma surged up, nosing aside the skimpy fabric of Regina’s thong quickly and setting to work. Regina coated her tongue quickly. Emma moaned at the taste. She forgot just how much she loved the flavor of her girlfriend. Regina’s thighs shook around her as the moan reverberated through the older woman’s body. 

Emma started to lick and suck in no particular pattern on Regina’s clit, just enough to drive her insane, but never enough to drive her over the edge. She heard Regina’s breathing above her become labored as she continued to lick. Fingers laced in her hair, tugging hard. More shots of pleasure raced to her core and she groaned.

“Emma,” Regina said in what she suspected was supposed to be a warning tone but came out breathless and slightly needy.

She continued to suck and lick in the same way for a few seconds before sliding down slightly to Regina’s entrance and plunging her tongue in as far as it would go. Regina cried out above her at the sudden intrusion.

“Fuck!”

A shiver wracked her frame. It turned her on so much when Regina actually did curse. Emma redoubled her efforts, plunging into Regina just as fast as she could in her confined position. She felt Regina’s thighs starting to quake around her and knew the Regina was so very close. Quickly she made her way back to Regina’s clit and took the bud in her mouth, sucking hard.  Regina stiffened above her, a long low moan leaving her mouth as Regina’s essence covered Emma’s face. Emma continued to lick and suck to draw out Regina’s orgasm, lapping up as much of Regina as she could.

Finally, Regina pushed her face away from her center. She heard Regina draw in a shaky breath as she moved off of Emma.

“I think that will suffice for now, Miss Swan.”

Regina bent down to kiss Emma again, groaning at the taste of herself on Emma’s lips. Emma just smirked and kissed her back. Regina’s hands ghosted down to Emma’s breasts, playing with her nipples yet again, pinching them into extra hard points and rolling them between her fingers. Emma fought the need to squirm even though she was pretty sure Regina at this point would not be leaving her as she had threatened. They were both too far gone for that.

Regina pulled back from the kiss. “Emma…” she trailed off and attached her lips to Emma’s neck, sucking and licking and biting. Emma could feel the blood being drawn to the surface of her skin and knew she would have quite a few marks tomorrow, but she didn’t care. She was Regina’s and she was unashamed about that.

“Regina…” she couldn’t find the words to say exactly what she needed, but Regina understood anyway and one of her hands slipped down Emma’s body to cup her aching heat.

Emma moaned loudly. God, finally, _finally._   Regina’s fingers swiped through a few times before finding Emma’s clit and stroking in hard and fast little circles. The fire in Emma’s stomach cranked up to 11. Emma knew it wasn’t going to take long. God, it was going to take less than a minute at this rate.

Regina’s fingers left her clit and entered her without warning, three fingers slipping easily inside her. Emma groaned and thrust her hips down on Regina’s fingers, straining for even more contact. Regina’s mouth latched onto a nipple and went to town biting and sucking and driving Emma even wilder than she already was. God, the heat was going to kill her.

Regina thrust into her hard and fast, building Emma higher and higher, her palm nudging Emma’s clit every other stroke or so. She felt her walls tightening around Regina’s fingers, she felt the fire in her stomach coalesce into one point. And as soon as it was going to release and spread out over her body Regina’s fingers suddenly weren’t there anymore.

The cry Emma let out was far from human.

“Regina,” she whined, almost sobbing. “Please, Regina let me come. I’m going to die if I don’t come.”

Regina painted nonsensical designs on her stomach with her own arousal. “And people say I’m the melodramatic one, Miss Swan.”

“Regina, please, please, please.” Her mind was too frazzled to come up with anything besides the word please. She needed to come like she needed air. It had been way too long and she had been teased far too much for this orgasm denial shit.

“What if I just left you here, Miss Swan, wondering when I’m going to come back, wondering what I’m doing, who I’m talking to, how would you feel?” Regina’s fingers started to coast lower again, tracing her lower lips.

“B-bad.”

“Yes, I suppose you would, Miss Swan. Keep that in mind, won’t you?”

Regina’s fingers were back in her in the next instant, pumping even harder than before. Emma started to babble out nonsensical things as her orgasm started to build again. She was too far gone to keep it in. This time when her walls tightened around Regina’s fingers Regina didn’t pull out and within a couple thrusts Emma arched off the bed, screaming for all she was worth.

“Regina!”

Regina kept thrusting into her, her other hand trailing down to circle Emma’s clit. Emma moaned loudly as another orgasm built and crashed over her and still Regina didn’t stop. Emma’s whole body was shaking, quaking, she felt like a live wire, feeling everything at once. It felt so damn good. A third orgasm ripped through her. Emma felt herself falling away, black at the edges of her vision taking over fully as she finally passed out as the height of her third orgasm took her.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma finally realizes just how big of an idiot she actually is.

She woke up later, wrapped gently in Regina’s arms. She wasn’t exactly sure how long she’d been out, but she was guessing a while. Being pushed over the edge so many times in rapid succession after such a long dry spell was bound to do that. One of Regina’s hands was rubbing up and down her side gently. She shivered and turned back to look at the other woman.

“Welcome back,” Regina said in a near whisper.

Emma smiled. “It’s nice to be back.” Emma fully turned over and brought Regina into her arms. She rested her head in the crook of Regina’s neck and sighed. It was nice to be this close to her, skin on skin once again. Regina, it seemed, had taken off her corset and stockings while Emma had been out. Her hands roved over Regina’s bare skin reverently. Regina was just as perfect as the day they met. Maybe even more so because Regina was hers now.

Regina wrapped her arms around Emma in return and kissed Emma’s hair gently. She murmured about how well Emma had done quietly. Emma didn’t say anything, content to just explore Regina’s skin once more after such a long break from the glorious tan expanse that Emma knew every inch.

They laid like that for a long while, wrapped up in each other, not saying anything after Regina’s whispers of good girl had faded into nothing. Emma had missed this, the quiet intimacy. They had still slept together whenever they could, cuddled up in each other’s arms, but it had been different. They hadn’t been as close somehow. It wasn’t that they were fully clothed during those other times, either. It was something wholly different, something Emma couldn’t quite grasp, but something that she was glad had returned to them once more.

“Please stay, Emma,” Regina finally whispered into the silence after what seemed like hours, her breath hitching audibly.

Emma pulled back to look at Regina. Those words had meant more than they did on the surface, she was sure of it. Her presence wasn’t what Regina was talking about.

“What do you mean, Regina? Of course I’m staying.”

“No you aren’t,” Regina said in a voice so small in broke Emma’s heart.

 Emma didn’t know exactly how to reply. She didn’t know exactly what Regina meant just yet, so she couldn’t tailor her response to that. Better just to go with the obvious and hope Regina revealed what she really meant later.

“I’m right here Regina. I’m not going anywhere if you don’t want me to.”

“But you are, Emma.”

Emma cocked and eyebrow. “You’re gonna have to throw me a bone, Regina. I have no idea what’s going on right now other than the literal meaning of stay being I don’t leave this bed. And trust me, I don’t want to leave this bed.”

Regina was silent for a short eternity. “A few weeks back you came home and told me you’d broken up a bar fight.”

“Well yeah, I had. Guy was a bastard for punching me after I helped him out.”

“But Emma…there wasn’t a bar fight anywhere in town.” Regina drew in a shuddering breath. “I went in the next day and asked Ruby about it and she had no idea what I meant. I didn’t think anything of it until Tweedle Dee came in on Monday to refile his alcohol permit for the Rabbit Hole and he didn’t have any idea what I was talking about either. Those are the only two bars in town, Emma. And they had no idea what I was talking about.”

Emma swallowed. Regina had found out. Regina had been the one following her. Oh god, and she probably thought the worst because that was how her life worked up until they had gotten together.

“So then I thought maybe you had just broken up a drunken fight somewhere else. And I waited for the paperwork. And I waited. But it never came. So one night after work I decided that I was just going to go over and see if you hadn’t filed it, because face it, Miss Swan, you’re horrible at paperwork, but your bug wasn’t there. At seven at night. Two hours after your shift started. David’s truck was there instead. I thought maybe you were on patrol. So I waited. You never came back to the station.”

Emma drew Regina closer to her. She had hurt her. She had hurt Regina. The woman that everyone else had stomped on and threw punches at, the one that she promised herself she would never hurt. She had hurt her by being her normal idiotic self. God, how had she been so fucking stupid? How had she thought that lying was a good fucking idea? Lying about why she needed the money was one thing. Lying about where she was for eight hours a day was another, Bubba had been so fucking right it hurt.

_I told you, Emma, you should have just gone for something simple that didn’t use much money. Regina would’ve been fine with it._ Daniel thought at her.

_I swear to god lover boy, now is not the fucking time. Go back to your little fucking corner and shut the fuck up._

Daniel fled in the wake of her all-consuming anger.

Regina continued. “So I had Sydney follow you around for a few days, but of course he couldn’t follow you out of town. But he confirmed enough. You hadn’t switched shifts with David. You lied to me.” Regina let out a hiccupping sob.

Emma fell even further into a her hole of self-loathing. She would’ve gladly set herself on fire at that moment.

“The next week I followed you out of town. And you went to that God forsaken bar night after night from open to close. And I just—” Regina broke down completely then and couldn’t go on.

“And then every time you gave me an opening to confess that I had fucked up I acted like nothing was wrong and I had no idea what your problem was.” Emma swallowed hard. “Regina, God, I’m so fucking sorry. I shouldn’t have fucking lied to you about anything, but I swear to God I’m not doing anything bad at Bubba’s. I’m not going behind your back and cheating. I needed a second job since money is so tight around here right now. I wanted to save up some money and what I was managing to pack away on the sheriff’s salary wasn’t enough. That’s what I’ve been doing at night, that’s why I was there from open to close, no other reason. I love _you_ and only you. I would never do that to you.”

Emma took a shaky breath. Her hands rubbed circles on Regina’s shuddering frame. God, she had fucked this up big time.

“B-but I hadn’t had sex with you in months I thought—I thought…”

“No, Regina, no. No sex with you but still being with you is better than literally the best sex ever in the whole wide world with someone else.”

“Then why didn’t you just _tell_ me you were getting second job instead of lying?”

“…I wanted what I was saving money for to be a surprise. So I thought I had to keep the job a secret too.” She looked down at her chest sheepishly.

“Oh, Emma. You are literally the biggest idiot I’ve ever known.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to realize that,” Emma replied quietly.

“What were you saving up for that you wanted to be surprise that badly?” Regina finally managed to take a deep breath.

Emma bit her lip. At this point could she even justify a white lie after she had just fucked up literally everything else? But she still really wanted the proposal to be a surprise. She had to think on her feet.

“I wanted to save up for a good down payment on a new car. I know you hate the bug, so I wanted to see your face when I drove home in something else. It was a stupid idea.”

“But you love the bug.”

“But I love you more.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I know.”

“You don’t need to buy a new car just for my sake.”

“But I wanted to.”

“Oh, Emma.”

“I know.”

Regina dried the last of her tears and pulled back from Emma to look at her. Tears were still streaming down her face silently. Regina reached up and brushed them away tenderly.

“Quit your second job. You don’t need a new car. And I need you.”

“I can’t. I promised the guy who runs the bar three months. It’s almost over. I know you probably don’t fully believe that I’m at the bar just to work, but I don’t want to leave Bubba in a rut. He’s a decent guy. He—uh—actually really got mad at me the other day when I told him that I hadn’t told you about my second job. Slapped some sense into me.” Emma paused. “That I promptly forget as soon as I figured out that you were mad at me because I thought I better not tell you something that would make you mad at me when you were already mad. How fucking stupid am I?”

“Very, but I think we’ve established that.” Regina studied Emma’s face for a long while. “I’m coming to work with you tonight then. I want to meet him. I want him to confirm everything you just told me. And he says one word to the contrary and…I don’t know what I’ll do to you Emma Swan, but—”

“You’ll destroy my happiness if it’s the last thing you do?” A small smile pulled at the corners of Emma’s mouth.

Regina rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Something like that, Miss Swan.”

“I’m going to be in the dog house for a really long time, aren’t I?”

Regina nodded. “Oh yes, Miss Swan, I think you are.”

Emma groaned. “I’m so fucking stupid it hurts.”

“God, imagine how much pain your father must be in then.” Regina got up out of bed and started to get dressed. “Get up, Emma, you have to be at work in half an hour.”

Emma bolted up and looked at the clock. Shit, Regina was right. Emma flew out of bed and went to tug on her clothes as quickly as she could. She was going to have to call Bubba and tell him that she was going to be a little late. Double shit. She hoped her ring money could take the slight hit in tips she was going to make for the night.

Regina for her part got ready at her normal pace and still managed to be ready by the time Emma flew from the bathroom, motioning to Regina to come on, while dialing Bubba’s number. Regina just glared at her but followed nonetheless.

“Bubba’s, how may I help ya?” Bubba picked up after a few rings.

“Hey, Bubba, it’s Emma. I’m going to be like maybe thirty minutes late. I’m super sorry I just—Regina and I were talking, about my job there actually, and I sort of lost track of time.”

“I thought ya told her about the job days ago.” Bubba didn’t sound happy.

“I was going to, but she was mad at me for something I didn’t want to make it worse and…suffice to say I’m an idiot. I’m sure you’ll get filled in on exactly how much of an idiot I am when I get there.”

“I’d say so, Miss Swan,” Regina said from right behind her.

“Still with your woman?”

“Yeah, uh, she’s actually coming with me tonight.”

“Wants to make sure ya aren’t lyin’.” It wasn’t a question, Bubba already knew.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Well then, I look forward to meetin’ her. I’ll see you when ya get here, little lady.”

“Bye.” Emma hung up the phone and shoved it into her jeans pocket.

“Perceptive man,” Regina said still in the same position, chin almost on Emma’s shoulder.

“Yeah, he’s a smart guy in his own way.”

“I look forward to meeting him.”

They descended the stairs together and both strapped into the bug. Emma flew out of town. Regina, for her part seemed nonplussed by the speed.

“So, what do yellow roses mean? I looked them up on Google but I couldn’t find a straight answer.”

Regina turned to look at Emma once again. Emma could practically feel the weight of her stare on her skin. She had probably just asked a really stupid question.

“Infidelity, Miss Swan. They mean infidelity.”

Oh. Fuck. Well that made a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things. That definitely would have given her the clue she needed to straighten things out long before this.

“Well, if Google had told me that this would have been resolved sooner.”

“I suppose, Miss Swan.”

“How long am I going to be Miss Swan exclusively?”

“A while.”

Emma nodded. She couldn’t really complain in this case.

They made it about half way to Johnson City before a thought hit Emma. “Wait, Regina, if you thought I was cheating on you what the hell was that little adventure in light BDSM we just had? Not that I’m complaining because shit do we really need to do that again, but…” she trailed off.

“I thought you were stepping out on me because I wasn’t giving you what you needed.”

“So that was trying to keep me around by not only offering what I wanted, but offering something else that no one else would.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Regina nod.

“Shit, Regina, that’s not what you need to do to keep me around at all. Unless you enjoyed it as much as I did. Then by all means, spring that on me again. But, fuck, Regina. Seriously, there’s no need to do something like that. Sex isn’t the most important thing, you are. And I’m just going to put this out there for future reference you don’t need to buy me expensive shit because you want to keep me around, you don’t need to do anything over the top, period. You just need to be you, ok?”

Regina hummed, acknowledging what Emma said, but not really responding. Emma was about to go on when Regina decided to speak.

“I wish you would’ve taken your own advice, Miss Swan.”

Emma sighed. “Yeah, but I just…I want to do everything I can for you because no one else in your life has, you know?”

“I feel the same way, but when it gets in the way of our relationship, I’d rather not.”

“Got it, no more lying for the sake of large surprises. Believe me. I got it.”

Regina laughed once. “I’ll feel the need to repeat that for quite a while to come, Miss Swan. After all, we both know how dense you are.”

“Fair enough.”

Emma stayed silent for a few minutes. “So. Did you enjoy earlier?”

Regina snorted. “Yes, Miss Swan, because in the middle of a serious matter, that is the question to ask.”

Emma blushed heavily. She couldn’t help it. She was _really_ curious.

“But yes, Miss Swan, to answer you, I did enjoy myself. I’d enjoy myself more if I wasn’t doing it in hopes of saving my relationship, however.”

“So, maybe when I’m out of the dog house…”

“We’ll see, Miss Swan. I have to be in a certain mood to be quite that dominant.”

“Works for me. Regular sex with you is also very nice.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Teenaged boy.”

Emma laughed. Yeah, maybe she was on the inside. Kept things interesting at least.

They stayed silent for the rest of the ride to Bubba’s. Regina’s hand eventually snaked its way over to rest on Emma’s. Emma smiled for the rest of the drive.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina meets Bubba and Emma learns a thing or two.

They pulled up outside of Bubba’s a little while later. Emma was only about ten minutes late thanks to her death-defying driving. She looked over at Regina, surveying the clothes the woman had pulled on back at the house. The sweater and jeans she was wearing were more casual than the stuff she normally wore, but she was still going to stand out like a beacon in the crowd of people who came in muddy work boots and flannel shirts. This was going to be interesting.

“So, uh, just to warn you before we go in, these aren’t exactly the kind of people that you would normally hang around. Like at all.”

“Remember, Miss Swan, I did sit out here watching you for the better part of a week. I know what kind of people frequent this bar.”

“Right, well, just saying.” Emma just shrugged. “Wait, how the hell did you watch me? I totally would’ve seen you.”

“I have my ways.” Regina reached for the door handle.

“You aren’t going to tell me.” Emma pursed her lips.

“No, a magician never reveals her secrets.”

Emma rolled her eyes and opened her door and stepped out. Regina followed behind her. Emma looked over her shoulder as she crossed the street.

“You know I don’t think that applies to witches. You just want an ace in the hole in case you ever need to watch me again.”

“Do you blame me?”

Emma sighed heavily. “At this point and time? No. Later? Probably.”

“I think we can talk about this at a later date. Perhaps not right after you just lied to my face for two months straight.”

“That’s basically what I just said, isn’t it?”

“I suppose if we were going for the barely literate translation, then yes.”

“Har de har, Regina.” Emma grabbed the door to Bubba’s and yanked it open. She motioned for Regina to walk through first before she followed.

Regina walked confidently over to the bar and sat down, disregarding the regulars surrounding Bubba and their stares. Emma shook her head. No matter where Regina was she was still a Queen at heart in some ways.

She slipped into the back to drop off her jacket and wallet before making her way behind the bar for the night. Emma walked up to Regina and cocked her hip to the side. Regina just arched an eyebrow at her.

“So you want anything or are you just going to sit there all night taking up a bar stool like a lump on a log.”

“I’m not exactly sure I trust the glassware in this place.”

Emma shot her a glare. “Regina play nice. Besides it’s perfectly fine. I would know. I work here. It’s clean. Don’t let the taxidermy fool you.”

Regina just looked at her skeptically.

Emma pulled a bottle of Jack out and brandished it at Regina. “It’s not your thousand dollar a bottle whiskey, but it does the job.”

The skeptical look continued.

“Or I could probably scrounge up the stuff to make an appletini. Though seriously, I’d take the Jack over the vodka we have here. It’s not exactly Diamond Standard. Hell it’s not even Grey Goose.”

Regina just stayed silent.

“We do also just have Coke if that’s what you want.” Emma stared back at Regina waiting for some sort of decision.

“Do you suppose you could find the ingredients for a Manhattan, Miss Swan? If I’m going to drink that, it might as well be mixed with a few things to mask its taste.”

Emma rolled her eyes and set about scrounging around for the bottle of bitters she knew was around here somewhere. On the way she grabbed the sweet vermouth. She knew there weren’t any cherries around here, but if Regina was going to be difficult she was just going to have to deal. She was lucky they had the rest of the stuff to make a Manhattan considering Jack and beer was 75% of what they sold. She gathered everything and headed back to Regina, plopping down her mixer and pouring ice and the respective ingredients in quickly. She forewent the normal show in favor of getting Regina her drink faster. She might become a little less difficult with a little alcohol in her system.

Emma plopped the glass in front of Regina. She had no idea why she was being difficult now of all times. It was obvious the Emma really did work here. No one had batted an eye at her scrabbling around the bar for various ingredients. Hell, Melinda had even waved.

“There you go your majesty, one Manhattan, sans cherry as we don’t actually have those on hand.” Emma shrugged.

Regina picked up the glass and sipped. Her eyebrows rose just slightly and she inclined her head. “Not bad, Miss Swan.”

Something about the way she said it tipped Emma off. “Another test?”

The corners of Regina’s mouth pulled up. “A good bartender has to know their mixed drinks and if you have been one for two months even in this place you should’ve remembered the basics.”

“Hate to blow holes in your ship, but I never forgot them. You make a sidecar so many times and you never really forget, you know.”

“I suppose.” Regina shrugged daintily and took another sip of her drink.

“I’m going to go help other people now, if you’re done trying to make sure I wasn’t lying about what I’ve been doing for the past two months.”

“For now, Miss Swan.”

Emma rolled her eyes and walked off to help Melinda, dragging along the ingredients for the Manhattan with her. Melinda would be more appreciative of the new drink, she was sure of it. Or at least wouldn’t test her patience in that special way Regina just had. Geesh.

 

An hour later Bubba came over to her scrubbing the counter where an overzealous meathead had spilled his beer.

“So, that’s your woman?” He nodded down at Regina, who despite the bar being a lot fuller now still had at least one stool on either side of her empty.

“Yup, that’s her.” Emma sighed and scrubbed a little harder.

 It had been all snark, sass, and tests in the last hour with Regina. She understood why the older woman was doing it and she would probably be doing the same thing, though she probably would’ve stopped by now, but Regina was different. She took so much more to trust. But Emma just wanted this whole thing to be over. She could stand the sass and snark, after all that’s what Regina _did_ , but the testing was getting on her nerves. Emma hoped that tonight would be the end of it and she could just go back to buying Regina flowers and whatever other romantic gestures she could think of, along with just doing whatever she told Regina she was doing to regain Regina’s trust. This whole testing thing made her think she as going to fail at any moment and lose the most important thing in her life. It felt like being in the foster system all over again. At least romantic gestures and honesty didn’t have that kind of pressure.

Well, at least as much. They didn’t feel like sudden death. This did.

“I must say, little lady, ya got yourself a pretty one.” Bubba swept off his ever present baseball cap and straightened his short hair.

“Yeah, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

“And from the way she’s lookin’ at ya she’s madder than a hornet at ya.”

“Yeah, she’s that too.”

“Didn’t tell her in time, did ya?”

“Nope.”

“Thought you were cheatin’.”

“Yup.”

“Gonna be in the dog house a while.”

“Oh yeah.” Emma stopped scrubbing at the counter and threw the cleaning rag back in its spot. She turned to Bubba. “You got any advice for this? Because I have no fucking clue what to do and you’ve been right about everything so far.”

Bubba laughed. “That I don’t, little lady, this one you’re gonna have to figure out on your own. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say no more lyin’.”

“Yeah, I got that Bubba.” She rolled her eyes. Emma looked down at the floor. “She’s just…the most important thing in my life besides my son and I can’t believe I almost screwed it up permanently.”

“Ya wanna be too much, little lady. I think that’s how this started. Ya wanna provide everythin’ for her when she can provide for herself.”

“But she deserves everything I can give her.” Emma looked up at Bubba, tears pricking at her eyes.

“No, what she deserves is ya bein’ open, honest, and lovin’. Whatever else may come is just a bonus.”

Emma scowled and cocked her head.

Bubba continued. “Couples based on what material objects they can give the other don’t last too long, do they?”

“I guess not.”

“No, I’ve been around long enough to see more than my fair share of those type of break ups. Love ain’t a material thing, it’s more valuable. And it comes from givin’ ya whole self to the person ya love without holdin’ back. You’ve given yourself to your woman, I can see that whenever ya talk about her, but ya don’t exactly think you’re worth much, do ya? And that’s where this all started. Ya wanna be too much, ya wanna be things you aren’t to make up for the fact ya don’t think ya deserve her. She loves ya for ya. Ya gotta see that.”

Emma just stared at Bubba.

“And that, realizin’ that you’re worth about ten of the people in this bar? I think that might fix ya problem with your woman.” Bubba nodded at her. “Now, I think your woman probably has some questions for me. I know I would. I think I’m goin’ go talk to her. Man the bar, little lady.”

“I—uh ok?” Emma turned back to the bar and walked slowly to the first person calling for attention in a daze. Was what Bubba said really right? If it was…then both her and Regina felt that they didn’t deserve the other. Well, fuck.

But maybe…Regina tried to drive her away repeatedly thinking that the Evil Queen didn’t deserve love. And she had driven Regina away by trying to give her too much without the older woman knowing. In a way the two were really similar. She had been trying too hard to show that she did deserve Regina. Fuck, and she had been the one telling Regina that no matter what she thought she deserved to be happy, that she was worth it. The irony wasn’t lost on her.

Emma wondered just how in the world to fix everything. If there was a way to fix everything. She wasn’t sure that she could just flip a switch and not feel like a lost little girl who didn’t deserve a family. The past three years had soothed that side of her greatly, but apparently it was still there in some ways. Emma ran her hand through her hair. She’d just have to work through it with Regina. They would both have to work on their issues just like they had been this whole time. At least this had pointed out yet another thing for them to work on. Maybe therapy sessions with Archie weren’t a bad idea at least for a couple months. She really didn’t want to fuck this up ever again.

She went back to tending bar, giving as much attention as she could to the customers. She really did still need the tips for the ring. But Regina and Bubba were talking and Emma was damn curious about what was being said. She was pretty sure Bubba wouldn’t say anything bad against her…but still.

The two of them conversed for the better part of an hour before Bubba drifted back to tending bar yet again. He shot her what passed as a smile for him before he dived into a conversation with one of the regulars.

Emma practically flew to Regina’s side. “Hey, Regina.”

“Hello, Miss Swan.”

“So…what were you guys talking about?”

Regina just smiled enigmatically. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Miss Swan. Let’s just say that your boss is a good man and leave it at that. Unconventional and a tad uncouth, but a very good man.”

Emma stuck her bottom lip out in a pout.

“Now, now, Miss Swan. I had a toddler Henry shoot me that exact same look. I am immune after 13 years.”

Emma sighed dramatically. “Fine, Regina. Geez. Can’t throw a girl a bone.”

“You don’t deserve a bone right now, remember, dear?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She shook her head,

Regina held up her empty glass. “Another? And this time I’d like to see your fancy bartending up close.”

Emma laughed.  “That, I can do, Madam Mayor.”

 

The night went well after that until a couple hours from last call another one of the songs that everyone seemed to get up and dance to came on. Regina looked around confused as everyone got up out of their seats and clomped to the dance floor. Emma stifled a giggle at her expression. She shot a look at Bubba before running around the bar and grabbing Regina’s hand.

“Come on, everyone dances when this comes on, you should too.”

Regina looked indignant. “I do not know the moves to this dance, Miss Swan. I should not have to dance.”

“It’ll be fun, trust me. I’ll teach you the moves.”

“Miss Swan!”

“No one is going to judge you, Regina, chill. Everyone is drunk out of their minds anyway.” She tugged on Regina’s hand one more time. This time Regina came with her.

Emma smiled widely as she pulled Regina onto a distant corner of the dance floor. There was enough room that Emma could both teach Regina and that hopefully, no one would run into them. As the chorus started Emma started to do the moves at an exaggerated pace. Regina’s eyes watched her intently, arms crossed on her chest, hips cocked to the side.

“See?” Emma asked as she repeated the set of moves again. “It’s not really hard, I swear. And during the bridges there are like two different steps, but that’s it. You’re smart and can ballroom dance, Regina, I think you can get this no problem if you just try.”

Regina harrumphed, but uncrossed her arms and started to follow Emma’s movements. Emma had to admit the woman did catch on rather quickly and Emma sped up her dance moves little by little until they matched the tempo of the song. At the end of the second chorus Regina was moving fluidly, leaving Emma rather speechless. The older woman had caught onto the different moves for the bridges flawlessly without Emma having to say anything. As the final round of the chorus sounded through the bar Regina started to smile and laugh. Emma couldn’t help but join in.

The final notes sounded and Emma turned to Regina. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“No, Miss Swan, it wasn’t. Remind me to teach you how to tango sometime, that my dear is hard.”

Emma snorted. “I bet.” She grabbed Regina’s hand and escorted her back to her seat before heading back behind the bar again to serve out the remainder of her shift, shooting little glances and smiles at Regina the whole time. 

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma makes Regina breakfast as another tiny step on the road to redemption.

Emma had to admit, the best part of having Regina know about her second job, besides not feeling like an asshole about lying and being able to fix their relationship properly, was being able to come home after work and sleep beside Regina for what remained of the night. Even being as exhausted as she had for the last two months she hadn’t slept as well as she could have with Regina by her side. Curling up next to Regina and flaking out made her feel so much more energized in the morning and waking up to the beautiful sight of Regina sleep rumpled wasn’t bad either. Actually having Saturday mornings to wake up next to Regina and lazily cuddle the morning away again was next to godly.

The last two weeks had been so much better. She and Regina were still mending the holes in their relationship slowly, but it had been getting much better. Emma had shown up every day at Regina’s office for lunch sometimes with little gifts, a pastry Regina was fond of, a chocolate bar, sometimes a flower. Emma had actually looked up flower meanings and was using them to her advantage to say things she hadn’t quite been able or been brave enough to put into words.

Regina had actually taken to calling her Emma at times instead of Miss Swan. The first time Emma had heard Regina call her by her first name again Emma practically jumped for joy in the middle of Granny’s while she was picking up their lunch. In a way it was her own personal meter of just how much Regina had forgiven her. The more she used Emma’s name the better off she was. They had both talked through a great many issues during their lunch dates and while some of those discussions had been tense at best, they had come through it relatively unscathed. 

With two weeks left until the proposal Emma felt pretty confident that they would be on solid ground once again by the time she popped the question. Until then though, Emma slipped out of bed, placing a gentle kiss on Regina’s forehead hoping she didn’t wake her up. Emma pulled on her robe before descending the stairs, the house oddly silent.

Henry was on a camping trip with David, taking advantage of the first warm weekend of the year, and wouldn’t be back until Sunday night, lending to the silence. Emma had managed to make up with her son while making everything up to Regina as well. She felt more stable in her little family than she ever had before. As much as she hated what she did to Regina, and as much as she hated that Regina didn’t trust her in a way, she was kind of thankful that everything had happened. It had allowed them to fix some issues that definitely needed to be fixed in their relationship before things got even more serious. And Emma was all for feeling more secure in her relationship. If they could work through this, she felt that they could work through anything.

Emma sighed and set out the ingredients for Regina’s favorite omelet. She was thankful that she could actually manage to cook simple breakfast food if nothing else. The blonde set to work cracking open eggs and whisking them together. She hit the button on the coffee maker once she was done with the eggs and the room filled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. She took a breath and hummed, pleased.

The floor creaked above her, signaling that Regina was awake and moving for the day. Emma scowled slightly. She had hoped to bring Regina breakfast in bed and then maybe just staying curled up under the covers for a good long while after they ate. It looked like that was out of the question now. She shrugged. Oh well. At least she had still set about making Regina breakfast.

The stairs creaked slightly as the brunette descended. A second later a tousled Regina was standing in the doorway, yawning. She walked across the kitchen and pulled herself up on one of the stools along the island and watched as Emma poured the first omelet into the pan.

“Morning, Regina.” She smiled over her shoulder.

“Good morning, Emma.” Regina yawned again. “What kind of omelets are you making?”

“Feta and spinach.”

“I sense bribery.” Regina cocked an eyebrow.

Emma laughed. “It’s only bribery if I had asked for something in return.”

“You hate feta and spinach. Bribery.”

Emma held up a pack of cheddar. “No one said they were all going to be feta and spinach. Only yours.”

“I suppose then it’s not bribery. At least not blatant bribery. And I highly doubt you’re skilled enough to slip a bribe past me with all that Charming DNA. So, it’s not bribery.”

“Your confidence in me is astounding, Regina,” Emma said deadpan.

“My confidence in you lies in other areas that don’t include deception. Like protecting our son, I’m very confident that you can do that.”

“Well, I suppose that’s a good trade off. I’m not one for being deceptive.”

Regina just looked at her.

“Ok, so, under normal circumstance where I’m not inadvertently trying to impress you.”

“An acceptable save, dear.”

Emma rolled her eyes and folded Regina’s omelet onto a plate. “Here you go your majesty, your breakfast.” The coffee machine behind her beeped, signaling that it was done. Emma got both of their mugs from the cupboard and poured them both a cup. She handed one to Regina and leaned against the counter, sipping hers. She closed her eyes as warmth flowed through her.

She set down her mug again and set to work making her own omelet. For a few minutes the only noise in the kitchen was the light scrape of cutlery on china and the sizzling of the pan. When Emma’s breakfast was done she grabbed her mug and plopped on the stool beside Regina, diving into her cheese omelet with gusto.

Regina set down her fork and pushed her empty plate away. Emma glanced up at her after shoving a particularly large bite of omelet into her mouth. The older woman sighed and looked at her. A few emotions crossed her face rapidly. Emma set down her own fork and turned to face Regina fully, swallowing quickly.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Regina bit her lip, head tilting to the side, trying to phrase whatever she had to say just right. “I’m…sorry.”

“You’re what?” Emma’s brow scrunched.

“I’m sorry. Emma we’ve been over and over how you betrayed my trust by lying to me and we’ve been over everything that caused you to think that you had to and we’ve even been over why I was upset about the Johnson City Henry incident, but we haven’t been over the fact that I didn’t trust you fully.”

“What do you mean?”

“I jumped straight to the conclusion that you were cheating on me. I didn’t ask you or give you a chance to defend yourself. I didn’t even walk into the bar to see for myself.”

“Regina…” Emma trailed off. How exactly did you tell a person it was ok when it sort of wasn’t? “You trusted me for a lot longer than most people would have. You kept looking for an explanation long past when most would’ve been screaming at me and calling me a cheater. For fuck’s sake even after both of the bars in town said there was no bar fight you still waited for the paperwork, you still came to the sheriff’s station to get the paperwork when you didn’t get it. You didn’t believe I was lying until the proof was literally right in front of your face.”

“But still—” Regina tried to interrupt.

“No, Regina. There’s no but still in this. Yeah, getting Sydney to follow me was a little over the line, but seriously you had just found out I was lying to you about where I was basically all day every day.”

“That doesn’t excuse it.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But Regina I’ve been in relationships where the second they would have heard that there was no bar fight from Ruby it would’ve been world war three. And I admit it does hurt that you would ever think I’d cheat on you, but damn do I understand it. Because that’s exactly what I would’ve thought if our places were switched. I mean that whole spending a shit ton of time at a bar does kinda look sketchy unless you know I’m working there. It’s where you go if you wanna hook up no questions asked.”

“But I could have asked you.”

“Would you have trusted any answer I gave you?”

“No.”

“And you probably shouldn’t have. For fucks sake when I did tell you, you believed me awful fast, Regina.”

“I still had you bring me to Bubba’s in order to make sure you were telling the truth. I kept testing you even after we were there. I didn’t…I kept pushing even when there was proof right in front of me.”

Emma sighed and reached for Regina’s hand. “Regina…I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that didn’t hurt in a way, and it was ridiculously annoying, but I don’t blame you for needing absolute proof, you know.”

“But I do.”

“But why Regina?” Emma started to make circles with her thumb on the back of Regina’s hand.

“Because I should trust you implicitly. You’re my true love. You’re the one who’s defended me for the last three years—more even—I know I can trust you. And yet I can’t it seems.”

“Regina…you’ve been screwed over so many fucking times it’s not even funny. And you’ve been screwed over the most by the people you should have been able to trust. The fact that you went so long without believing the worst in me shows progress. Four years ago what would have happened if Ruby had told you there was no bar fight?”

“I would have hunted you down and demanded to know why you had lied to me and just what you were plotting against me, probably with a fireball in hand.”

“Yeah. At any point in this did you think I was planning against you?”

“No, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to hurt me.”

“Fair enough.” Emma pulled her hand from Regina’s and cupped the older woman’s face. “We’ve been over this, Regina, we both still have issues. A lot of issues that have been fixed somewhat in the last three years, but we’re still working through. All this did was point out the areas that need the most work.”

“I suppose.” Regina stared blankly at her plate.

“Regina…if you’re really worried about everything maybe we could go to Archie together? I know you went to him right when we were getting together to work through the really, really major stuff, but maybe it would be good to go back now that a lot of the major stuff has been sorted. You could deal with the consequences of the major stuff instead of the incidents in and of themselves. And I mean if you want to, you could just go on your own or we could go together or we could do both. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want to do anything that would help strengthen our relationship because I love you more than life itself.”

Regina glanced over at Emma out of the corner of her eyes. “I feel as if that’s giving up, that we should be able to fix all of our problems together.”

“Well, I think we’ve done a damn fine job up until now, but if I’ve learned anything since I came to Storybrooke it’s that sometimes asking for help means you’re stronger than if you don’t. We’ve helped each other out a lot in the last three years, but there are some things we’re still struggling with. So far we’ve been working through what’s left, but we’re still missing a few cracks. We don’t have the right tools right now to help each other smooth them over. Archie can help us fill in those last few cracks. We just have to be strong enough to ask him.”

Regina took a deep breath. “Alright. I…I think you have the right idea. Perhaps it would be a good idea to go to Archie. Both of us. I don’t—going alone might remind me of darker times.”

Emma leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Regina’s forehead. “Ok. Whatever makes you the most comfortable.”

Regina pulled her down into a slow, gentle kiss. She pulled back a few seconds later, but kept her forehead against Emma’s. “And Emma?” she breathed against Emma’s lips.

“Yes, Regina?”

“I want to do anything to strengthen our relationship as well. I love you so much I don’t know what I’d do without you. I was so scared…” Regina’s voice broke and trailed off.

“I know. But you don’t have to be scared anymore. I’m here. I’m here for the long haul Regina. We’ll work everything out and then we’ll be even stronger than we are now.”

Regina nodded against Emma’s forehead. “I want that.” Regina pulled back, looking into Emma’s eyes for a long minute. “I want you.”

“You have me.”

Regina crashed their lips together. The kiss was needy and desperate at first before mellowing out into loving and sweet. Regina’s lips detached from Emma’s to kiss down Emma’s neck. Emma hummed and threaded her fingers through Regina’s hair. With a bite to her pulse point, Regina pulled back.

“I _want_ you.”

The corners of Emma’s mouth turned up. She grabbed Regina’s hand and led them both up to their bedroom. When the door closed behind Regina she pushed the older woman up against it, showering her with kisses anywhere she could reach.

“You can have me. As many times as you want.”

Regina smirked before flipping their positions. “I plan on it.”

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma hits a snag with the ring and a snag with her plans.

A week later Emma walked in to Granny’s to pick up lunch for her and Regina. Ruby waved her over excitedly as soon as she saw Emma. Emma cocked an eyebrow at Ruby’s frantic flailing, but walked over to one of the bar stools and sat down.

“What’s up, Rubes?”

“So, the dress rehearsal for our play is the day before everything with Regina. Do you think you could come? Please? I mean everyone else is inviting a couple people to watch and of course Granny has to man the diner, and Snow is running the thing, so you’re the only one I know who’s not coming. Plus I mean then you’ll get a sneak peak at the play and you can look all smart and make comments and junk. I know you have stuff to get ready for the proposal, but please?” Ruby shot her the best puppy dog eyes Emma had ever seen.

She smiled and laughed. “Sure, Rubes. I’ll come. That’s what friends are for right?”

Ruby lunged over the counter and brought Emma in for a slightly awkward hug since the counter was digging into her hip. “Thanks, Em.”

Emma laughed again. “No problem. Like you said, give me opportunity to get a sneak peak and wow Regina with my insight into the play.” She snorted.

“You’re gonna love it.” Ruby pulled back and beamed at her.

“With you as the lead actress, how could I not?”

If it was possible Ruby’s smile got brighter. “So, you’re proposing in like a week and a half. How does it feel?”

Emma’s eyes widened. “I feel like I’m about to vibrate out of my damned skin, Rubes. It’s becoming hard not to bounce on my toes anytime I’m near Regina.”

With the agreement to see Archie their relationship had returned to almost normal once again. Their two sessions so far with Archie had managed to clear the air just a little bit more and make things that much better. Now that everything was returning to normal Emma was so fucking excited she could barely contain the urge to shout from the rooftops.

“Oh, Emma, she’s going to say yes and it’s going to be wonderful. My god, can you imagine your wedding? Regina’s house looks like a home fashion magazine. Your wedding is going to be so awesome.”

Emma smiled as her mind drifted to thoughts of their wedding and just how beautiful Regina would look walking down the aisle towards her. The urge to bounce all the way down the street increased exponentially. How in the world she had gotten lucky enough to be with Regina she would never know, but she was going to savor every damn minute of it. But she was still pretty sure that the proposal and seeing Regina on their wedding day would be some of her favorite minutes, even if they hadn’t happened yet.

“Earth to Emma.” Ruby waved her hand in front of Emma’s face.

Emma shook her head and came back from cloud nine. “Sorry Rubes.”

“You were imagining Regina in a wedding dress weren’t you.” Ruby shot her a knowing look.

“Uh, maybe?” Emma blushed lightly.

“God, you guys are too cute together. I’m so glad I could help you with the proposal. You realize I’m going to tell any kids you guys have that I helped get their mommies together right?”

Emma laughed. “You’ll be the perfect crazy aunt Rubes.”

Emma bit the inside of her lip. She hadn’t even thought of more kids. Huh. It was a nice thought. But definitely one that would come later.

“Technically I’m already the crazy godmother.”

Emma just looked at her. “Don’t even remind me how crazy this town’s timeline is. Ruby you’re younger than me.”

Ruby laughed. “Well, I wasn’t at the time, so it was a little less weird when Snow asked me.”

Emma shook her head. “I’m not even going to think about how my family tree is going to look after I marry Regina. Nope.”

“What, you don’t want to know that you’re related to Pongo too?” Ruby looked at her with a serious expression.

“Ruby…”

Ruby started to laugh. “Sorry, Em, but I had too.”

Emma rolled her eyes.

“Order up!” Gaston yelled, throwing two take out bags into the window.

Ruby turned and snatched them up before handing them to Emma. “Here’s lunch for you and your lady love. Now go have a nice relaxing Saturday and rest up for the big day.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I don’t exactly think it’s going to take _that_ much energy Ruby.”

Ruby just smirked.

“For the love of god.” Emma laughed once before turning to the door. “Does your head ever leave the gutter?”

“Nope, never will!” Ruby shot at Emma’s retreating back. 

 

Emma counted her money. And counted it again. And again just to make sure. She had 5500 bucks to her name right then and the ring went off of hold the next day. She had to come up with 250 bucks in a night. On Wednesday night. Which were not the greatest tip night by a long shot. She would maybe, _maybe_ get a hundred of that tonight. But she was still 150 bucks short. And if she waited a day to get the ring the ring might not be there. The perfect, one of a kind, everything that Regina deserved, ring. Emma wanted to scream. If the ring had gone off of hold on a Saturday she would’ve been just fine. But of fucking course it didn’t.

She paced up and down the sheriff’s station. Where could she get 150 bucks on short notice? Surely one of her friends would have it, Granny definitely would. But she really didn’t want to have to borrow anything. She really wanted to have this all tied up herself.

Emma took a deep breath. And she would have it all tied up herself, if only a couple days late. She would pay back whoever she had to borrow the money from. It’d be fine. She could do it. It would be a little bit humiliating. But she would survive. It was all for Regina. That was what really mattered. Not the fact that she was going to go red in the face and stutter like an idiot while asking for a loan. Nope, not that at all.

She grabbed her coat off the back of the chair and set out for Granny’s. Hopefully Ruby would have the money to lend her and she wouldn’t have to ask more than one person. God, she could just imagine how tongue tied she would get if she had to ask more than one person. Asking for help was one thing. Asking for money was another somehow.

She scrubbed a hand over her face. Regina. She just had to think of Regina during the whole thing.

Emma walked out the door, flipping on the machine that directed all of the sheriff’s calls to her cell phone.

 

She took a deep breath and flung the bottle of Jack higher than she normally would, adding as much flair as possible. Even the regulars were noticing her over the top behavior. It had earned her a few more bucks than normal, but still nowhere near enough.

Ruby and Granny hadn’t had the money. All of the extra cash from the restaurant was being saved for property taxes that were due at the end of the week. Emma had nodded understandingly while screaming on the inside. They had been her best bet.

She hurried to catch Snow on her lunch break after she had left the diner, but Snow didn’t have any money to spare either. Emma wasn’t surprised. A teacher’s salary was even less than her own and her’s was just enough to get by comfortably.

That left her trying to make 250 bucks in a night in tips alone. Emma was praying for a miracle. Or at least a really rich customer who tipped really well. She was pretty sure those two things were one in the same at this point.

She caught the bottle easily and poured out a good measure of Jack, sliding the now finished Jack and coke towards her customer. The woman smiled at her and batted her eyes before turning back to her friend and resuming their conversation.

Emma sighed and walked off. At this rate she was going to have to sell her kidney in a back alley or something equally desperate to get that ring on time. Her charm and her juggling only went so far in a backwoods bar on a Wednesday. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t trying her damnedest anyway.

Bubba walked over close to last call. “So what’s been up with ya today, little lady? You’re trying awful hard for a job you’re leaving on Friday.”

“The ring I’m getting Regina comes off of hold tomorrow. I needed 250 more bucks to have enough to get it.”

“Ah. How much have ya made tonight?”

“115.”

“Looks like you’re a little short.”

“Oh yeah.” Emma flipped her hair over her shoulder, irritated. She was so fucking close she could taste it. How could she fail at the 11th hour like this?

“Oh, just give her the money Bubba. You’re gonna anyway, no need to make the little woman sweat,” said a man that Emma had seen on and off at the bar, but never helped. Bubba was always there before her. He looked to be about the same type as Bubba, a big burly tough man, complete with mud speckled flannel and jeans, his hair cropped close enough to seem like he was some sort of ex-military.

“Maybe I was about to tell her before ya started yammerin’.” The corners of Bubba’s mouth honest to god pulled up. Emma had never actually seen that during her whole three month stay.

The man smiled back. “Ya like ta drawl things out, we both know it.”

Bubba rolled his eyes. “I’ll give ya whatever money ya need at the end of your shift, little lady.”

Emma’s jaw dropped. “Th-thank you,” she stuttered out.

“Least I could do for ya little lady. You helped me out of a tough spot plus you’re one of the best workers I’ve had. Just think of it as an advance on your pay check.”

“I could literally hug you right now.” Emma smiled so widely her face hurt.

“Now, now, that’s my job, little woman,” said the other man.

“Jake, let the woman have her moment.”

“Just defending my claim.”

“Little woman has her own woman at home.” Bubba shook his head, fondly.

“Can’t be too careful.” Jake shrugged.

Bubba turned to her. “Emma, this is Jake, the thing I decided to marry a few years back. Some days I think I mighta been insane.”

Jake just smiled. “He says the nicest things, don’t he?”

Bubba snorted.

“It’s nice to meet ya, Miss Swan. Bubba’s talked a lot about ya. I hope ya been keepin’ him in line these last three months.” Jake held out a hand for her to shake.

Emma stepped up and shook the man’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.” Her head was still spinning from the fact that Bubba was gay. Looks definitely didn’t matter she knew, but Emma thought she was pretty good at reading people and she never even _thought_ about Bubba swinging that way. She shrugged. Oh well. It was no big deal.

“So when ya proposin’ to your woman?” Jake asked.

“Saturday.” Emma started to bounce up and down on her toes.

“Not excited one whit, either.” Bubba shot her a fond glance.

“Nope, nope. Don’t know what you’re talking about. Me excited?” She continued to bounce up and down.

The two men laughed.

“I wish ya luck. When this lug proposed to me he almost forgot what English was.”

Bubba blushed slightly. “Now that ain’t true.”

Jake just shot Bubba a disbelieving glance. “Uh huh.”

Bubba glanced up at the clock on the wall and started to back away. “Time for last call.”

Jake shook his head affectionately at Bubba’s retreating back. “Always manages to find a way out of arguments when I’m right. Always.” Jake turned to look at her. “But seriously, little woman, thank ya for helping him out the last three months. It’s taken a load off his mind that he doesn’t have flighty college girl workin’ for him.”

“He’s the one who gave me a job. I should be thanking him. He’s the reason I why I could afford the ring in three months instead of two years.”

“Think of it as symbiosis then.”

Emma just looked at him. She wasn’t exactly sure what that meant other than she thought she had heard it one of the few times she was in her high school biology class.

“Mutually beneficial,” Jake elaborated after a second.

“Oh. Yeah. I guess.” Emma shrugged. “It’s been one of the best places I’ve worked. Not hard to give your all when you like the place.”

Jake nodded his agreement. “But my thanks still stand, regardless. It’s been nice to see him less worried. This bar is his baby. Burnin’ through a bartender every few weeks was stressin’ him out. You workin’ here allowed him to find another bartender in it for the long haul to replace ya after ya leave. He should stay a little less stressed now, so thank ya.” He scooted off the barstool. “Now go help him clean up. I wanna get him home by a decent hour.” He smiled at Emma.

Emma nodded and went off to help Bubba close up the bar.

 

Emma fingered the velvet box in her jacket pocket. The ring hadn’t left her sight since she had picked it up two days before. Somehow it seemed even more perfect now that she actually owned it. Maybe because it was wholly theirs now and no one would have anything like it ever again. She could physically feel her hand shaking as it gripped the box. Really, in a way Regina was like that as well, one of a king and no one else’s, as long as she would have Emma. It was kind of fitting.

She took a deep breath and exited the sheriff’s station.  The dress rehearsal was today. She’d have just enough time to hug Ruby after it was done before rocketing to Bubba’s for her final day. If she was honest she was going to miss working under Bubba. She wasn’t going to miss working two jobs in the slightest, but Bubba really was a good guy. She wondered if she could rope Regina into visiting every now and again. Maybe she could teach Regina a few more dances while they were there.

A smile lit her face as she walked into the high school’s auditorium. Scurrying people were everywhere, shouting for various things, costumes and props and people. It was utter chaos. Emma made her way to the group of people who were sitting in a bunch of fold out chairs near the stage. She plopped down on one, nodding and smiling at the people she knew.

Snow appeared a second later, smile harried, short hair all over the place. “Emma! I’m so glad you made it. Ruby told me she invited you. Your father should appear sometime soon. I really hope both of you like it. Everyone worked so hard.”

Emma shot her mother a warm smile. “I’m sure it’ll be great, Mom.”

“Thank you, that means a lot.” Snow took a deep breath. “We’ve still got about ten minutes until we’re ready. Seems quite a lot of things were misplaced and disorganized by the last few rehearsals. So settle in and hopefully we’ll get started soon.”

Emma nodded. “Break a leg.”

Snow shot her another smile before being swallowed up by a group of kids clamoring for her attention.

Her father appeared about half way through the ten minutes allotted by Snow. He flopped down next to her tiredly. Emma looked over at him.

“Snow been running you ragged with this play?”

“You have no idea. I love her to death, but if I have to hear one more rant about how the costumes aren’t period accurate I might poke out my ear drums.”

Emma laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like her. Only she would take a community production so seriously.”

“She’s an all or nothing kind of person. You definitely got that from her.”

Emma shrugged.  Maybe.

The lights started to dim around them. Snow appeared from between the curtains and made her way to center stage, a spot light quickly finding her. The short haired woman had managed to pat down her hair in the ten minutes since Emma had seen her. She felt David perk up at the sight of his wife. Snow smiled at the small crowd.

“I’d like to thank everyone for coming and being our test audience.”

A few people in the crowd chuckled quietly.

“Everyone’s worked so hard on this I’m glad we get to share it with you. So without further ado, the Storybrooke players presentation of The Scottish Play.”

Emma scowled, not quite understanding why Snow hadn’t just said Macbeth, but before she could wonder much Snow had disappeared and the curtain had lifted on three figures chanting in low tones.

She sat through the first few scenes quietly watching. It wasn’t too bad for a play put on by a small town, she had to admit. During the fourth scene Ruby finally appeared on stage. Emma perked up at seeing her friend, but quickly slumped down in her chair a few lines later. Ruby was pretty and had confidence to the gills, but it was obvious that she could _not_ act. It was a little painful to watch but the other actors on stage balanced her out as best they could.

Until the opening of the fifth scene where Ruby was all alone on stage. Emma silently groaned to herself as Ruby started to speak, thrashing about in the most overdramatic way Emma had ever seen. The lines seemed to drag on and on.

“Unsex me here! And _fill me_ with from the crown,” Ruby gestured at her head, “to the toe,” Ruby bent over at the waist flailing her hands wildly at her toes. “top full of _direst cruelty_.”

Emma had had enough and closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch her best friend embarrass herself like this. If she did she couldn’t lie to Ruby’s face later when she told her she did wonderful.

Another body filled the chair on her other side. It leaned closer to her, warmth washing over her along with smell of apples. Emma smiled even before Regina spoke.

“Well dear, I think your friend’s talent lies in spreading gossip like wild fire and having the most _interesting_ outfits in Storybrooke, not in acting. This is rather dreadful.”

The comment hit her in the gut. Regina didn’t like the play. And she was taking her to this same play. Tomorrow. When she was going to propose. This was an utter fucking disaster.

“Yeah. A little bit, but Ruby is giving it her all so, good for her.”

Regina just hummed noncommittally.

“What are you doing here anyway, Madam Mayor?” Emma asked in a whisper, head almost resting Regina’s shoulder.

“Henry’s part of the stage crew. Also Snow roped him into a minor part as one of the extra knights at the last minute. I thought I might as well come and see how everything played out.” Regina paused for a second. “No pun intended.”

Emma snorted. “Of course not.” She had known Henry had been helping out with the play but she definitely hadn’t thought that Regina would show up just to maybe get a glimpse of Henry moving around some scenery. The part about being a knight was news to her, though. Fuck she hated being out of the loop.

“I admit for a drama this is turning out to be rather…comedic.” Regina smiled.

Comedy was not what she was going for tomorrow by a long shot. Romantic. That’s what she wanted. Not like Macbeth was a really romantic play in the first place, but she had been working with what she had been given. Emma fought the urge to bang her head off the nearest hard surface.

“Admittedly, as easily as Miss Lucas can con information and gossip out of people I would’ve imagined she would’ve made a better actress. I suppose the spotlight does strange things to people.”

Emma shrugged. “At least she remembers her lines. I don’t think I’d even manage that.”

Regina twisted slightly to kiss the top of Emma’s head, still resting near her shoulder. “No dear, but again your talents lie elsewhere as well.”

“I’d like to see you get up there,” Emma said.

Regina snorted. “I think I would be a terrific actress, Miss Swan. After all I’ve played a part for most of my life, what’s the difference if it’s on the stage or not.” She nodded towards Ruby. “And Lady Macbeth? Well, she’s quite like the Evil Queen. She would be no problem to bring to life.”

Emma just glanced sideways at Regina. She did have a point. She reached down and grabbed one of Regina’s hands and laced their fingers together, making small circles on the back of her hand. Her head flopped fully onto Regina’s shoulder and she sighed out a deep breath.

Ruby was gone from the stage now and she could practically feel the rest of the room breath a collective sigh of relief. Jesus, she really hoped no asshole took Ruby to town later no matter how bad she was. She was still Emma’s best friend. Emma fingered the badge on her hip. Perhaps if she found out anyone had said a bad word to Ruby a few extra parking tickets would be in order. The thought made Emma smile.

Emma sat with her head on Regina’s shoulder for the remainder of the play. As bad as Ruby was, the cast managed to make it through the whole play with only minor flub ups. The small audience applauded loudly at the end, Regina included. When the lights came back up again Ruby hopped off the stage agilely even in a floor length dress. She rushed up to Emma, face flushed.

“So what did you guys think?” Ruby asked, hopping up and down. Emma swore if she’d had a tail right then it would have been wagging mercilessly.

“You were great, Rubes.” Emma smiled as widely as possible to make up for the slightly shaky words.

“Yes, Miss Lucas, it was certainly a _unique_ performance,” Regina added.

Ruby jumped up and tackle-hugged Emma. “Thanks guys!”

Emma smiled again, more genuinely this time seeing her friend so happy. She extricated herself from the hug and stepped back. “Anyway Rubes I got to get going or I’m going to be late for my shift at Bubba’s. But seriously. You did great. Buy yourself a drink on me.”

Ruby smiled brightly. “I’ll definitely do that.”

“I’ll walk you out, Miss Swan. Congratulations again, Miss Lucas. And if you see Henry tell him I’m out front if you please.”

“Sure!”

The two of them walked away from Ruby as the wolf ran to hug Snow. Emma laughed once at Snow’s surprised expression when Ruby spun her around a couple times. Regina just rolled her eyes.

The late afternoon light hit them as they emerged from the high school. Regina laced her fingers through Emma’s. They walked for a few minutes in companionable silence. Emma slipped off her jacket, the balmy air hitting her bare arms deliciously. She caught Regina’s eyes wandering over the muscles there subtly.

“So, it’s my last night working at the bar,” Emma started.

 “Indeed it is, Emma.”

“I was thinking maybe we could go out and celebrate tomorrow night?”

Regina smiled. “I’d like that Miss Swan.”

Emma had to contain the urge to wrap Regina in a bear hug. “Cool. Be ready by two thirty or so?” The first showing of the play was at three. Emma really didn’t want to take Regina to a second showing, but a promise to Ruby was a promise. Hopefully dinner at Lumiere’s at six would make up for that.

“I think I can handle that. The question is, will _you_ be able to wake up in time.” Regina shot her a teasing smile.

Emma snorted. She didn’t think she’d be getting any sleep tonight she was so damn excited. “Yeah, I think I can manage. I’ve been managing to get myself up at eight in the morning after working til three every night for three months now. Plus I mean, you’re quite the incentive.”

Regina just laughed. “I’m glad, Emma.”

They arrived at Emma’s bug shortly after. Regina pressed a kiss to Emma’s cheek gently. “Have a nice night at work. I’ll see you later.”

Emma squeezed Regina’s hand once more before letting go. “Most definitely. I’ll be curled around you like a koala by three thirty.”

Regina smiled. “You know if I didn’t love you quite so much I’d be annoyed at your restrictive sleeping position.”

“Yeah, well then it’s a good thing you love me.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Goodbye, Miss Swan.” She stepped back and started to walk away.

“Tell Henry he made a good knight for me, will you?” Emma shouted at her retreating back.

Regina waved her confirmation over her shoulder. Emma smiled and climbed into the bug, rocketing off towards Johnson City and her last night at Bubba’s. Her had kept periodically drifting to the box in the jacket pocket, tracing the outline through the red leather and smiling brightly. Less than twenty four hours. She pushed the gas pedal harder.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma wonders who ever thought that enchanted candles were a good idea.

She was scrubbing down the bar for the last time when Bubba walked out of his office holding her cellphone. “Someone keeps tryin’ to call ya, little lady.”

Emma squinted at the phone for a second before taking it. Who could be calling her at this hour? And why were they calling her? They knew she was out of town at this hour.

She hit the lock button and the screen lit up with five missed calls from David and a myriad of texts.

“It’s my Dad. He’s my deputy and he’s on shift right now.” The only reason he’d bother her is if there was something he couldn’t handle.

“Well then, I’d say it’d be a good idea to call him back.” Bubba stepped back allowing her to walk from behind the bar.

She nodded and hit the redial button, strolling to the other end of the bar. David picked up on the first ring.

“Emma, thank god.” Relief was evident in his voice.

“What’s up, Dad? What’s wrong? Is it Regina? Henry?” The possibilities flipped through her head at an alarming rate. Her heart thundered in her chest.

“No, no. God, no. Lumiere’s is on fire and the wind is whipping the embers up. The fire’s already spread over to the building next door. They said it’ll spread to the residential neighborhood the next street over if the wind keeps up. We’re working as fast as we can to get people out and to safety and to get the fire out, but we need some help. There aren’t enough people to put out the fire and evacuate the block. Some people have volunteered, but it isn’t enough and the town really needs its sheriff,” David blurted out quickly.

“Ok, ok, Dad slow down. I’ll be there as soon as possible, but I’m still twenty minutes out at best. Take a deep breath, you can handle it. In the meantime keep as many of the firefighters on putting out the fire as you can. There’s no need to evacuate if the fire’s out. But for now evacuate the houses closest first.”

“Right, right.” David took a deep breath. “Ok, but get here soon.”

“You got it. Good luck.” Emma tapped the end call button and hurried back to the bar.

Bubba looked up at her as she hurried past him to grab the rest of her things. “What’s wrong, little lady?”

“One of the local restaurants is on fire and it’s spreading. They’re trying to evacuate the neighborhood closest to the blaze, but there isn’t enough manpower. I’ve got to go.” Emma shouted back at Bubba from his office. She ran back out into the bar proper.

“Go, go, little lady, protect your town.”

“Thanks Bubba,” she said as she walked towards the door. “I’ll see you around. I plan on bringing Regina back and teaching her how to square dance one day.”

Bubba laughed. “I’ll look forward to it, little lady.”

And with that she was out the door, breaking into a run to her bug, jamming the keys into the ignition, throwing it into gear and speeding off to Storybrooke.

 

It was a mess when she got there. People were everywhere. Fathers carrying as many family possessions as they could and jamming them into their cars, children in pjs running up and down the street with wide eyes, women chasing after them screaming, it made Emma’s head spin. She parked her bug beside David’s truck and got out. David was nowhere to be found at the moment. She ran towards the fire instead.

Firefighters were wrestling hoses aimed at the base of the fire. Lumiere’s was almost gone, but the building beside it was still ablaze, the heat hitting Emma half way up the street. She caught site of the fire chief and ran towards him.

“Update me!” she screamed at him over the cacophony.

“It refuses to go out! We’re throwing everything we’ve got at it, but it’s like fucking magic!”

“What about the evacuations? How are they going?” Emma had to shield her face from the brunt of the heat. It felt like she was getting sunburned in just a few seconds.

“David’s been organizing that, I’ve just been giving him my people to help.”

“Has anyone been hurt?”

“The buildings have been empty so far” The fire chief shuffled, glancing at the fire.

A word pinged in the back of Emma’s mind. Magic. “Have you called anyone with magical abilities? If it won’t go out the normal way maybe it can be forced!”

The man shrugged and looked away. “Wasn’t on my mind.”

Emma rolled her eyes, more like he didn’t trust any of the local magical practitioners. “I’ll call Regina. We can’t have this fire spread anymore. Do you know where David is?”

“Check the next street. He’ll be somewhere.”

Emma nodded and ran off. The next street over was still in the same state of chaos as it had been a few minutes before. She dodged around people and objects as best she could, trying to find David. The free for all had to end if everyone was going to get out safely.

She spotted him at the end of the road, yelling at a family who refused to leave. Emma ran up, took a few deep breaths, and squared her shoulders.

“This is a mandatory evacuation for your safety. You will either vacate the property willingly or you will be escorted off the property by my father or I,” Emma said in her best no nonsense voice.

The father just cocked an eyebrow. “That’s a violation of my rights. I’m not just leaving all of my possessions here to burn. Besides everything will be fine.”

Emma glanced down at the two kids peeking around their mother’s legs. “You can stay and be an idiot, but they’re coming with me.” Emma gestured at the children.

“You can’t take them!” The mother exclaimed.

“You stay and I can. You’ll be putting them in harms way.”

The mother glared at her, but walked out of the house willingly, holding her children’s hands. The father stood his ground for a minute more before following.

She turned to David. “Where are you sending the people you’ve evacuated?”

David just turned to her with wide eyes. “Uh?”

“Call the principal of the high school. Get them to open up the gym for the people who’ve been displaced. I have to call Regina. The fire isn’t going out easily. It might be magical, it might just be some kind of bitchy normal fire, but regardless she can help. Once you get off the phone start sending everyone towards the high school. And tell the people who are trying to cram their whole lives into a car to quit it. Their lives aren’t worth a couple pairs of jeans.”

David nodding before grabbing out his phone and setting to work. She jogged off a little ways and did the same. Regina answered after a few rings.

“Emma?” she asked drowsily.

“Regina, where are you?”

“At home, in bed? Why?”

“My god, did no one call you? For fucks sake you’re the mayor!”

“Emma, what’s going on?” Regina sounded much more awake now.

“Lumiere’s is on fire. They think the fire might be magical and it’s spreading. Can you get down here as soon as possible? They need as much help as they can putting it out.”

“Give me a minute.” The line went dead. Emma stared at her phone a second before slipping it back in her pocket. She looked up to see a swirl of purple smoke appear beside her.

“Emma,” Regina said as the smoke dissipated.

“Hey.”

Regina grabbed her hand and teleported them outside of Lumiere’s. The heat assaulted Emma’s senses again. She took an involuntary step back.

Regina took a deep breath and widened her stance. She held up her hands towards the blaze and closed her eyes.  Emma stood silently by as Regina assessed the fire in front of them.

Regina’s eyes popped open. “It’s magical in origin, most definitely.”

“So someone just set Lumiere’s on fire?”

Regina shook her head. “No, this is what you get when you don’t extinguish ever burning candles properly. Lumiere’s has an affinity for them for obvious reasons. They come with a special enchanted cap that will put them out, but that’s it. No wind or water will extinguish their flames.”

Emma groaned. “Great.”

“I can put it out, but it’s going to take some time.”

Emma leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Regina’s cheek. “Do what you need to and if anyone gets in your way send them my way. I have to go help evacuate the neighborhood just in case it spreads some more while you’re working.”

Regina nodded and closed her eyes. “Go, I can handle this.” She started chanting a second later.

Emma took off once again. The street was less chaotic this time around. Everyone on the upper side of the neighborhood seemed to be gone. She spotted David knocking on a door a little over halfway down. She ran to the next house and started to pound on the door.

They managed to get the rest of the neighborhood evacuated to the high school in record time. She called the local branch of the Red Cross and let them know what was going on. They agreed to coordinate with other local organizations to help make the evacuees more comfortable in the interim. The first hints of dawn were starting to paint the sky as she collapsed on the curb at the end of the street. David collapsed beside her.

“Everything’s taken care of?” he asked her.

“Yeah, it should be. Except for the fire.”

She looked over, the night sky still painted red and orange as the blaze raged on. It looked like it had managed to make it to a third building. Emma prayed it wasn’t the bakery that made even better bear claws than Granny’s. They were expensive as shit, but they were oh so worth it when Emma wanted to splurge.

“You said Regina was on putting it out?” David asked, flopping back on the sidewalk.

“Yeah. But she said it was going to take some time. After this I think Lumiere’s going to think twice before using candles that never go out without a fucking enchanted cap.”

David snorted.

“Only in this little Podunk town is that even a problem.” Emma sighed heavily.

“You think Regina’s going to be ok? It’s been a while. I can’t imagine how much magic she’s used.”

Emma rubbed at the back of her neck. He was right. “She should be fine, but,” she stood up. “I’m going to go check on her. Why don’t you go to high school and help out?”

David groaned but pulled himself up from the sidewalk. “This is the longest night I think I’ve ever had, including the battles.”

Emma just snorted. “Ogres. This is still so much better than ogres.”

David winced. “Alright, you got me.”

Emma shot him a sarcastic smile before running off again to go find Regina.

Regina was sweating profusely when Emma found her in front of the burning remains of the bakery Emma loved. She cursed silently before sidling up to her girlfriend. Regina didn’t even acknowledge she’d approached.

“Hey, need help?” she asked quietly, hoping she wasn’t going to break Regina’s concentration.

“Miss Swan if you don’t give me your hand this instant I might just kill you.”

Emma rolled her eyes but laced her fingers through Regina’s. The magical exhaustion was definitely talking. Immediately her magic was pulled out of her at a startling rate. Apparently the fire suppression spell took a lot more magic than she thought. She gritted her teeth as she watched the fire department scurry around her, trying to help put out the fire. She saw a few trolling through the wreckage of Lumiere’s and the empty second building, checking for hot spots.

The minutes seemed like hours with her magic flowing from her. How Regina had stood this for as long as she had, Emma had no idea. The fire went down at an agonizing pace. Emma felt beads of sweat course down her back that had nothing to do with the immense heat in front of her. The sun crested the horizon in front of them, slowly creeping up and marking the time passing.

Finally, finally, just as Emma was about to collapse down on one knee the fire went out with a last little flare of defiance. Regina let go of her hand and fell into Emma, breathing hard. Emma stumbled to keep them both up, just barely managing.

“Regina,” she mumbled into dark hair, voice scratchy and weak. “You did it! You did so good Regina. You saved so many people, baby. You’re so awesome.”

“Don’t…call me baby.” Regina managed between heavy breaths.

Emma’s strength finally gave out. She managed to lower them both to the ground gently, leaning back again the building behind her and closing her eyes. She was so damn tired she could cry.

“Ok, Regina I won’t call you baby, but god do I love you. You’re so fucking amazing it hurts.”

“Don’t you forget it, Miss Swan,” Regina managed before her whole body went limp in Emma’s arms.

Emma blinked her eyes open and looked around for one of the firefighters. They were over at the wreckage making sure everything was good and out.

“Hey!” she called weakly.

One guy looked up at her.

“Go get the EMTs. I have a feeling we’re going need them.” Emma gestured weakly at herself and Regina.

He nodded and ran off.

The ambulance pulled up a minute later. The guys hopped out and took Regina from her arms, carefully laying her out on a stretcher. One of them came back to check Emma out. They worked quickly and efficiently. Emma faded in and out, trying to answer the guy’s questions as best as she could. The girl who was checking out Regina finished first and came over to Emma.

“She’s gonna need to go to the hospital, Sheriff. It looks to be nothing serious, but she needs fluids at the very least.”

The other guy nodded at the girl. “Yeah, she’s gonna need to go to.” He gestured to Emma.

“Think you can stand, Emma?” the girl asked.

Emma just looked at her and laughed.

The girl nodded and looked over at her partner. “Well then, let’s load Regina and come back for her.”

A few minutes later Emma ended up in the back of an ambulance, leaning back against the side, drowsing in and out. She tried to grab for Regina’s hand that had slipped off the gurney, but never managed to get there. After a while she stopped trying, but the need to make sure Regina was ok never left, even if she didn’t quite have the strength to follow through.

They reached the hospital. Whale spouted some gobbledygook at her which she probably didn’t have a hope of understanding even if she wasn’t tired as hell. Another few fade in and outs and she was sitting in a hospital bed, an IV in her arm, in one of those ridiculous hospital gowns. She flopped her head to look over and found Regina in the bed beside her, still asleep with an IV in her arm as well. She was hooked up to a monitor that was beeping steadily. The color was even starting to return to her cheeks.

Emma felt a breath leaving her body. It looked like Regina was going to be fine. That’s when she finally let go and her eyes fluttered shut, still turned towards Regina, hand still seeking her lover. This time when she faded out she didn’t wake up for a long while.

 

The room was dark when she finally opened her eyes. Emma felt like she’d been hit by a Mack truck. Twice. She groaned loudly. Fuck sometimes she hated magic. A lot.

A chuckle assaulted her ears. “Believe me, dear, I know how you feel.”

Emma’s eyes tracked over to find Regina lying in her bed, looking towards Emma. Emma shot her a weak smile.

“I’m thinking your next town ordinance should be the banning of those damn candles.” She sounded like someone who’d smoked two packs a day for thirty years. She cleared her throat.

“It’s at the top of my list.”

“Thank. God.” She groaned again. “I don’t want to ever do that again.”

“Me either.”

“How long have you been awake?” Emma asked. She flexed her muscles to sit up but her muscles still weren’t quite up to listening to her.

“Not long, no one’s been in here since I’ve been awake. So I know nothing of our prognosis or what’s happened while we’ve been asleep.”

Emma nodded. “Hopefully Dad took care of most of it.”

Regina snorted. “Oh yes, let the Charming idiot handle town matters.”

Emma looked at her. “Better than Snow.”

Regina shut up immediately.

“Did you leave a note for Henry?” Emma asked a little later.

“I woke him up and told him what was going on after I changed.”

“Damn, you’re fast woman. I had barely put my phone away by the time you appeared.”

“I was motivated.”

“You wanted to make sure I didn’t trip and fall into a fire is what you’re saying.”

Regina just smirked. “That might’ve been part of the reason dear.”

“Your confidence in me is astounding.”

Regina was a silent for a long moment. “I’m very confident in your abilities as sheriff. I just…I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Emma wished with all her heart the Regina was right beside her so she could draw her into a hug. “I don’t want you to get hurt either. You pushed yourself too hard last night, you idiot.”

Regina glared at her. “I did what I had to, to save the town. If the fire hadn’t been put out it would’ve consumed everything. And other magical practitioners would have only interfered if it had gotten close to their property. Rumple’s shop is five streets over. Who knows how far it could’ve spread by the time it got there.”

“Fine,” Emma said with a sigh. She sent Regina a disapproving look. “But next time ask for help before you’re about to fall over, ok?”

“We’ll see.”

“Regina,” Emma said warningly.

“Fine, Miss Swan, if you insist.”

“I do.”

Dr. Whale chose that moment to walk in. “Ah, I see both of our leading ladies are up and around. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” Emma said at the same time Regina said, “I’ve been better doctor.”

Whale nodded. “To be expected. You both expended a lot of magical energy.”

“What does that mean, doctor? How long will we be kept here?” Regina looked at the man like he was a bug she could squash with a flick of her little finger.

“Well, a combination of magical depletion and the fire dehydrated you, but other than that it just presents are a rather bad case of exhaustion. Both of your fluid levels are normal again so really all you need is sleep. We were really just waiting on both of you to wake up before discharging you.”

“You should go get that paperwork, doc. I want out of this place like as soon as possible.” She really did hate hospitals.

Whale nodded before leaving the room.

Emma managed to lever herself up into a sitting position. Walking was going to be fun, but if all she needed to recover was sleep she would damn well rather go home and sleep all curled up around Regina instead of in a hospital bed. She also really fucking wanted her stuff so she could call David and Henry and make sure they were ok and that the town was ok as well.

Regina seemed to read her mind, carefully extricating herself from the covers on the bed and placing her feet on the ground. She grabbed the IV pole and used it to steady herself as she made her way across the room and to a set of cabinets that seemed promising. The older woman threw open the cabinet, grabbing her clothes and Emma’s out before turning around and shuffling to Emma’s bed. She flopped down and handed Emma her clothes.

Emma dug around and found her phone, firing off a few quick texts before getting up and pulling on her pants. She glared at the IV that was preventing her from getting dressed any further. Texts came back immediately from both David and Henry stating they were fine, that everything was fine, and asking if they were ok. Emma sent back a couple sarcastic replies along with a request to come get them to David.

Whale returned with the paperwork. Emma scribbled her signature in all the right places while Whale dealt with Regina’s IV and then they switched places. Whale nodded his thanks as Regina handed him the paperwork and left Emma and Regina to get dressed the rest of the way.

Once they were dressed Regina and Emma hobbled down to the lobby where David and Henry were already waiting. She looked over at Regina. Regina just smiled and mouthed ‘motivated’ at her.

Henry rocket launched himself into both of them, almost bowling them over. Both of them smiled and hugged him back.

“What do you say we go home kid? I need to sleep for about the next day and a half,” Emma said, ruffling Henry’s hair.

“Yeah, I’m so glad you’re ok moms.”

Regina smiled. “What’s most important is you’re ok too, Henry.”

Henry smiled at his brunette mother and tugged them both forward.

As soon as they were home, they fell into bed, not bothering with pajamas. Regina pulled Emma to her the moment she laid down. Emma shivered at the feeling of warm skin against her own.

“I love you, Emma Swan.” Regina whispered into her hair.

“I love you too, Regina Mills. More and more every day.”

Regina hummed happily before snuggling just a bit closer to Emma and relaxing fully. Emma laced her hand through the one of Regina’s that rested on her stomach. Regina’s breath evened out quickly. Emma wasn’t far behind her until a thought struck.

Today was the day she was supposed to propose. And they had spent it all in the hospital because of a fire. Emma scowled. Well fuck. She sighed heavily. Well, everything could be rescheduled she guessed.

Her eyes widened. They had spent all day in the hospital because of a fire. A fire at Lumiere’s. A stream of cuss words flew through Emma’s head.  Fuck. Everything couldn’t be rescheduled. The main place of their date had gone down in a blaze of glory. And the last showing of the play was on Monday at seven. There was no freaking way that they were going to feel up to moving that much by Monday, Emma could feel it. She wasn’t going to be moving enough tomorrow to try to schedule a new place for dinner at any rate even if they did feel better by Monday.

She was totally and utterly fucking screwed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who predicted something was going to go wrong, well, you were right.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma starts from scratch.

A few days passed blurrily. Both Emma and Regina barely left their bed for two days, only leaving for food and showers. On the third day Henry was dropped off again at Regina’s behest and while the two of them were still too exhausted to do much of anything, they spent the day quietly with their son, splayed out on the couch watching fondly as Henry gushed over just how awesome Pepper Potts was in the new Iron Man movie. More than a few chuckles had escaped Regina’s lips as Emma kept whispering comments about how bad the boy had it for a fictional character. She couldn’t fault him though, Gwyneth Paltrow was definitely attractive, especially when playing such a badass woman.

Those three days Emma didn’t think about the proposal at all except in passing. She was too tired to do anything but curl up in Regina’s arms and laze about between naps. She hid the ring box as well as she could the first day and that was about all she had done for planning.

The fourth day, however, when they finally managed to get up and go to work, Emma knew she was going to have to throw her brain into overdrive to think of something. She had promised Regina a date on Saturday and even if it was a week late, Regina was going to get a date on Saturday. Emma thought about going to Ruby and her mother for help again, but decided against it. They had already been through all the ideas that the two of them had had and Emma hadn’t really liked any of the other options besides the one they had originally planned. With that out the window she was on her own.

Emma leaned back in her chair in the sheriff’s station and resisted the urge to play paper basketball just to have something to do with her hands while she thought. She bit her lip. Everyone and their mother’s brother besides Ruby and her Mom had been shouting at her about keeping it simple. Emma titled her head. What if she did keep it simple? What would she do then?

Words Bubba had spoken to her well over two months ago came floating back, “When I proposed I kept it simple, stuck to things we liked and added somethin’ a little special to everythin’.” A hand came up to cup her chin. She could do that, she knew everything that Regina liked, everything that they had had a good time doing together. She could manage to pull together something from that. The special touches were what was going to be the biggest bitch to think of, but Emma was sure that she could do it. It was for Regina after all. She had just worked two jobs and subsisting on minimal amounts of sleep for three months for her. Coming up with special little twists didn’t seem so hard in comparison even if everyone around her seemed to call her slow at one point or another.

 _“I told you simple was best!”_ Daniel exclaimed in her head, practically jumping up and down.

 _“God damn it, lover boy, we’ve been over this. Shut the fuck up.”_ She scratched at the back of her head like that would dislodge him.

 _“You used to listen to my hints about Regina.”_ He was positively sulking.

_“Yeah, at the beginning when I had the fear of god in me that I was going to fuck it all up and your help was better than no help. Now that’s not true. Stop fucking trying to live vicariously through me. And for Christ’s sake, don’t act like I didn’t feel that little bout of the urge to flee a while back.”_

That shut Daniel up once again. Emma sighed in relief. She had liked him better when she had just thought him a construct of her foster system addled brain. And definitely a lot better when his whispers to run had been something she had wanted to do but was looking for justification before she skipped town.

Emma swept the paperwork from the fire from her desk. It wasn’t like she’d been working on it anyway. She was much too unfocused and it could wait, Regina couldn’t. Instead she slapped down a blank sheet of paper and grabbed a pen. She wrote out **IDEAS** at the top of the page and stared at it for a long minute. The end of her pen started to tap against the desk. She was drawing a blank.

She squinted. What if she phrased it another way? She scribbled out ideas and wrote **THINGS REGINA LIKES** below the scribbles. A thousand things came to Emma’s mind now. Regina liked apples, horses, tiger lilies, chicken noodle soup from Nina’s when it was cold out, Granny’s chicken salad when it finally got warm in Storybrooke, picnics, Henry, secretly she loved comic books, sappy 19th century literature, stargazing, Emma, warm days in the sun, the smell of rain, big comfy sweaters, baking, the color blue, dark chocolate, and a million other things. Emma scribbled things down until both sides of the page were full. She glowed with the knowledge that she had learned so many things from her normally closed off girlfriend, inconsequential as some of the things might be, she was still the only one who knew this much. The thought made her smile. Regina was the only one to know pages of information about her, too. It was a wonderful feeling.

She looked over her list carefully. Emma was certain that she could do something with all the things she had listed here. She crossed off a few that wouldn’t work almost immediately. That thing she did with her tongue might apply later that night after she proposed, but it didn’t do her any good with the actual planning stage or the date itself. She crossed off a few more than were sweet, but not exactly what she wanted. She read over the list again and with some things crossed out a few words stood out to her. Emma smiled broadly as she circled them all several times. Yeah. She could definitely do something with all of those things. She was gonna need a little help pulling it off, sure, but as perfect as the picture forming in her head was it was worth it. Emma picked up the phone and started to dial.

 

She slipped out of bed just as the sun was cresting the horizon on Saturday morning. Emma kissed Regina gently on the cheek and placed a note on Regina’s nightstand. It requested that she be ready again at two but this time in casual clothes she wouldn’t mind getting a little dirty. She changed into her own normal jeans and tank and tip toed out of the house.

The morning air was cool against her skin. Goosebumps rose on her arms, a shiver coursed through her body. When she stepped out into the weak rays of the sun however she warmed up a little. Today was going to be the perfect weather for what she wanted to do, not too hot or cold. Emma smiled and walked over to the bug.

She popped the trunk and started to dig through everything, making sure she had everything she needed for the day. Blanket, a bunch of Christmas lights, a little portable generator, extra fuel for the generator, a cooler, a basket full of plates, silverware, and glasses, towels, flip flops, both her and Regina’s swimsuits just in case, flashlights, candles, and matches. She was pretty sure that was all she was going to need for today, sans the food, but she’d pick that up later. With a nod, Emma closed her trunk.

She got in the bug, started it, and drove to her first stop of the day: the stables. The stables had been the first place she had called on Wednesday after she’d made the list. It was sort of fitting to Emma that her proposal would have something to do with where it all began in a way. She, however, was not in any way shape or form looking forward to being anywhere near a horse, let alone _on_ one. The things she did for love.

Emma pulled up at the stables a few minutes later. Philippe, the stable manager, had been ridiculously accommodating, for which she was incredibly grateful. When she had called him a few days earlier with her idea, not only had he agreed on sort of short notice, he’d helped her out even more by telling her he had the perfect place in mind for the picnic. He had taken Emma to the spot the next day and she had almost hugged him where he stood.

Philippe stood outside, leaning on the stable doors, waiting for her. He shook his head, tossing his long ponytail back over his shoulder. Emma hopped out of the bug and walked over to him.

“You got everything you need?” he asked her, pushing off of the building and standing.

“Everything but the food. I’ll get that after I’m done setting everything else up.”

He nodded. “’Kay, I’ll pull the Rhino around and you can load it up with everything then.”

Emma shot him a smile and went back to stand beside her car, popping the trunk and waiting for Philippe to come back. A few minutes later he pulled up beside the bug in his ATV. She grabbed a load from the bug’s trunk and carried it over to the back of the Rhino. Philippe appeared beside her.

“Everything in the trunk go?”

“Everything but the cooler, yeah.”

He nodded and grabbed a load. Together they had the ATV loaded in a few minutes, everything tucked carefully in the back so it wouldn’t shift around too much on the way over. Philippe climbed in the front and Emma scrambled in beside him. He shifted the vehicle into gear and pulled out of the stables parking lot as soon as Emma was strapped in. 

“Thanks for doing all this,” Emma said looking over at the man. “You really didn’t have to.”

He nodded. “No problem. Regina’s always been decent to me and the stables over the years. And I’m kinda glad I’m not a horse anymore, so the whole curse thing wasn’t really a bad thing for me.” He shrugged.

“You’re a former horse. Working with horses. And you like it?” Emma’s face scrunched. She would kind of find it demeaning really.

“Who better to know what a horse wants and needs than me?”

Emma could see the logic in that, but it was still a little weird. “Right.”

“Plus, it’s nice to be able to still run in some way. Kinda miss galloping. Don’t miss oats.”

Emma snorted. “Yeah, I wouldn’t miss those either.”

They continued the rest of the way in silence. Around ten minutes later they pulled up to the little grotto that Philippe had showed her days earlier. Emma still pulled in a small breath at the sight even though she’d seen it before. It truly was a beautiful place.

A small waterfall fell down into a large, deep pool, the water a brilliant blue-green color where the water was deepest. The little cliff that the waterfall fell from was covered in moss and wild flowers, Regina’s favorite tiger lilies among them. Weeping willows dipped into the water on two sides, branches rustling lightly in the wind, sending even more ripples across the water. The last side bordering the pool was a perfect little clearing covered mostly in bright green grass and ferns that transitioned gradually to the mud and stone bank of the water.

Emma smiled brightly. It was perfect.

The two of them unloaded the Rhino again and when that was done Philippe climbed back in the ATV.

“I’ll be back in a few hours. If you need me before that just give me a call,” He said as he started the vehicle.

Emma nodded. “See you later.”

He drove off leaving Emma alone in the clearing. She looked around, mouth pursed, debating where was the perfect place to set up everything. The clearing was the obvious choice, but Emma wasn’t quite satisfied with that idea. She glanced to her left and spotted a willow that wasn’t completely at the edge of the water. Its branches hung down creating a perfect little canopy over downy green grass. Emma smiled. That’s exactly where she’d set up everything.

She set to work quickly, grabbing a string of Christmas lights and a step ladder that Philippe had lent her. Emma could see in her mind exactly what the little grotto would look like when she was done. It was going to be perfect. She wondered how she ever thought anything else would do. Seemed like Lumiere’s burning down was a blessing in disguise, at least for her. She smiled and started to weave the Christmas light though the branches of the willow.

 

Emma took a deep breath and walked into Granny’s. Ruby practically tackled her before the door closed.

“Jesus, Rubes.” Emma laughed. “It’s like you’re more excited about this than I am.”

Ruby just grinned. “I’m just happy you’re happy, Ems. And ok, I may be a little excited to see what she says since I sort of had a hand in helping you plan. Even though those plans fell through.” Ruby shrugged. “I still feel involved, you know. And even though I know she’ll say yes, it’s still more excitement than we’ve had around here in a while.”

Emma smiled and patted Ruby on the shoulder. “I get it, Rubes. And thanks for all your help. I’m sorry we didn’t get to see your actual performance.”

“It’s ok, Emma. You and Regina were almost dead.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “We weren’t _that_ bad off.”

“Eight missed calls while you two were dead to the world the next day says otherwise.” Ruby just lifted an eyebrow in a pale imitation of Regina.

“Fine. We were almost dead.”

Ruby shot her a smile. “So, you got everything ready for tonight?”

Emma’s smile brightened. “Yeah, it’s going to be awesome Ruby. The idea to put Christmas lights in the trees was brilliant. It makes it look like a fairytale.” Emma paused and covered her face in her hands and groaned. “I mean it looks really romantic and whimsical,” she mumbled through her hands.

Ruby threw back her head and laughed. “Really have to watch your analogies here.”

“You’re telling me.” Emma removed her hands from her face. “Anyway, last thing before I pick Regina up is the food I asked you for.”

“I’ve got it waiting in the fridge. Be right back. I threw some cold packs in the bag too just in case you didn’t have any.”

Emma nodded. “A few more definitely don’t hurt.”

Ruby trotted off to the back to grab the bag and returned a minute later. “Here you go, Em. Good luck tonight, not that you’ll need it.”

“Thanks, Rubes. I’ll text you first thing tomorrow and tell you how it went.”

Ruby smirked. “You better, or I’ll show up knocking on your door.”

Emma shook her head. “You’re evil.”

“Someone’s gotta pick up the slack around here.” She winked at Emma.

“Bye Rubes,” Emma said with just a tad of exasperation as she walked out the door and back to the bug once again to drop off the final items at their date sight.     

 

She pulled up at the stables once again and climbed out of the bug. Philippe was nowhere to be seen so she walked into the stables themselves. The man was saddling up a group of horses, his back turned to her.

“You back with the food?” he asked her, never turning.

Emma jumped a little in surprise. How had he known she was there? She hadn’t exactly made a lot of noise walking in.

“Yeah.”

He tugged on the last strap, nodded once and turned to face her. “I’ve got a class in fifteen minutes. I can only take you part of the way out there this time.”

“That’s fine. You’ve already done a lot for me. A little walking won’t kill me.” She shrugged one shoulder.

“Good.”

He turned and gestured for her to follow once more. They walked through the stables and emerged on the other side where the ATV from earlier waited. Both of them climbed in and Philippe took off before Emma was fully strapped in. They got about halfway before Philippe pulled to a stop.

“Sorry to leave you so far away, but six year olds don’t wait long.”

Emma smiled. “I would imagine. My thirteen year old doesn’t have any patience. I can’t imagine a six year old.” Emma hopped out and waved as Philippe turned around and shot off towards the stables once again.

She sighed and started walking. She still had plenty of time before she was going to pick Regina up. It was a nice day anyway. After all the bearclaws and sitting around the sheriff’s station doing nothing a walk definitely wasn’t going to hurt.

She ambled along the path, following the ATV tire tracks to make sure she was going the right way. It took her about fifteen minutes to get to the little grotto again. A smile broke out on her face when she saw everything again. Her set up was perfect. The place was perfect. Regina was perfect. Everything was going to be perfect.

Emma plopped the cooler full of food down on the blanket and looked around again from under the branches of the willow.  The image of the waterfall swayed in the breeze. The lights Emma had hung had managed to hold their place among the moving branches, for which Emma was glad. She looked down at the candles she had scattered around the blanket and frowned. She had brought matches, but…

Emma waved her hand and thought of the warmth Regina brought her, channeling that warmth into what she wanted to do. The candles flickered to life around her and she smiled. The little Regina had taught her about controlling her magic was enough to do parlor tricks and nothing more. It was mainly more so Emma didn’t blow up light bulbs when angry, but it pleased her immensely that she could do this. To her, it almost seemed like she was showing Regina that her lessons were good for something other than non-shattered glass.

She took another breath and waved her hand again, this time extinguishing the candles. She looked down at her watch. If she hoofed it back to the stables she would make it with plenty of time to spare to pick up Regina. She set off again at a brisk pace, retracing her steps once more.

Emma arrived at the stables a little sweaty, but otherwise no worse for wear thirty minutes later. She made a beeline for the bug. If she hurried she could even stop and freshen up a little bit before the appointed date time. She wasn’t horribly smelly, but she really would rather have put on a fresh coat of deodorant and touched up her make up for this date. After all, she wanted to be just as perfect as everything else.

She slid into the bug and jammed the keys into the ignition and turned. A second went by and nothing happened. Emma scowled and turned the key once again to the same result. What the hell? She ripped the keys from the ignition and put them back in and turned again. There wasn’t even a peep from the ancient engine.

No. No. This literally could not be happening right now. The bug had run for years, _years_ , hell decades without a hitch, but today of all days was the one it decided to fuck up? Emma felt like banging her head of the steering wheel and crying.

Instead she forced herself to take a deep breath and pop the hood of the bug and stepped outside the car again. She regarded the engine critically, but there was one problem. There were a lot of practical things Emma knew, but cars? Cars weren’t one of them. Emma knew how to put washer fluid in and how to check her oil. That was it. Everything else the bug had either went without out or was done by someone else.

She slammed the hood shut in anger and whipped around. Maybe she could borrow Philippe’s truck just for the little bit that she needed to go pick up Regina. Or she could just call Regina and tell her where to meet her. But no, that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to see her face as Regina realized where they were going. Regina had been trying to get her to ride ever since they’d gotten together to no avail. She wanted to see the little up twitch of Regina’s lips as Regina realized that Emma had finally caved.

Emma sighed heavily and went to look for Philippe. She searched high and low for him, checking ever room in the stables and all the immediate rings outside, but he was nowhere to be found. Was he still teaching class? Had they literally just rode off somewhere? She thought him teaching six year olds would just be going around in a circle or something, but maybe she was wrong.

She felt like screaming. Why was this going wrong at the last second? Why today of all days? Emma stalked out of the stables and stopped. Two horses sat grazing in a small corral. One of them Emma recognized as the horse that Philippe told her she could have for the day because she was gentle and willing to respond to even the most inexperienced riders. Both of the horses were saddled up too. Had Philippe finished his lesson and gone off somewhere else, leaving the horses for Emma and Regina when they needed them? She looked down at her watch again. That had to be it. It was close enough to the time of the date that it was the only answer.

A light bulb went off in Emma’s head. She didn’t have any wheels. But she did have a horse. And technically she did have horse riding knowledge. Oh god she was going to hate herself for this later.

_“Daniel, you are going to help me do this or so help me god I don’t care what I have to do but I’ll get rid of you and make sure you go someplace unpleasant.”_

_“I was going to help you even without the threat,”_ Daniel replied, annoyed.

_“Shut up and tell me how to ride this thing.”_

_“To get to Regina on time you’re going to have to let me have some control over your body. You won’t be able to stay on a horse at a gallop no matter what I tell you.”_

Emma scowled. _“Alright. But abuse that privilege and I will end you.”_

Daniel just snorted.

Emma reluctantly ceded some of her bodily control over to Daniel. He took over immediately and walked over to the horse. He petted the mare for a minute before going around and swinging up on her, leading her out of the corral and shutting the gate behind them.

 _“Hold on Emma.”_ Daniel smiled.

Oh god, was all Emma had time to thing before the horse took off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you wondered why Emma didn't just propose to Regina after they'd gone home from the hospital. Short answer, because that would've been no fun. Long answer, I totally already had what the real proposal was going to be like, location and everything, and it was a lot better, and I just like throwing monkey wrenches into Emma's plans.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma isn't so good at the 'trying not to fall off a horse' thing.

_“ **Hold on Emma**.” Daniel smiled._

_Oh god, was all Emma had time to thing before the horse took off._

 

She was insanely glad that her body wasn’t really under her own control as the horse ran faster and faster. She was damn sure she would have flailed around until she fell off. Yet, at the same time it was utterly terrifying that she couldn’t move her own limbs when she felt like she was in danger. Emma started to panic more than a little, but resisted the urge to shove Daniel out of the way and cling onto the horse for dear life. She was safe even though she didn’t feel like it. Daniel had taught Regina how to ride and Regina was the best rider around. She kept repeating that to herself as the horse flew over land.

Daniel, for his part, was having the time of his life once again. He hated that Emma never let him go near horses. Emma was pretty damn positive that after this she wasn’t even going to think about the stables again, let alone go near them, so she thought he better enjoy it as much as possible.

Then again the thought of riding lessons with Regina were tempting…but only as long as Regina was pressed up behind her showing her what to do. Perhaps then she could tolerate doing this again. Just never ever this fast without some sort of car around her. Horses shouldn’t go this fast. Someone, mainly her, could die.

They finally reached Storybrooke proper, where Daniel slowed the horse down from a gallop to a fast trot. Emma breathed a sigh of relief. She could totally handle this speed, even if it almost seemed like she was being shaken around like a tub of popcorn. They clip-clopped down side roads until they finally arrived at the house.

Daniel swung down and ceded control back to Emma. Emma shook out her body, getting rid of the weird feeling that resided in her limbs. Daniel carried himself a completely different way than Emma did, leaving her muscles a little sore.

She turned and took the reins of the horse, looping them around the fence at Daniel’s instruction before turning once again to the house. She sprinted up the walk and burst into the house. So how she got there wasn’t so perfect, but she’d be damned with everything else wasn’t. Regina would be perfect no matter what. Excitement hummed through her veins as she mounted the stairs.

Emma pushed open their bedroom door and gasped lightly at the sight in front of her. Regina was in jeans and what she called a casual button up blouse with low heeled boots. She really did make everything she wore look runway ready. And god if Regina’s ass in jeans wasn’t something that should be immortalized in marble, she didn’t know what was.

She leaned against the doorframe as Regina fluffed out her hair once more to make sure it was to her liking. With one last pat she turned around to face Emma, smiling brightly. Emma was always amazed how different Regina could make a smile look. It could look like your death coming for you or it could be sunshine and fluffy blankets, that smile. But the fluffy blanket smile was always her favorite. Regina’s face lit up in a way that made her even more beautiful if that was possible.

“Hey,” Emma said smiling back.

“Hey.” Regina walked over and looped her fingers through Emma’s belt loops. “Ready for our date I take it?” Regina’s voice dipped into low and sultry tones.

Emma had to resist the urge to just rip Regina’s clothing off right there and damn the date. “Yeah, yeah I am,” Emma said instead.

“Good.” Regina leaned forward and pecked Emma on the lips.

Emma grabbed Regina’s hands from her belt loops and stepped back. “Come on, let’s go!” Emma exclaimed, finally letting her real level of excitement show.

Regina laughed. “Well then, lead the way.”

Emma let go of one of Regina’s hands and tugged her down the stairs with the other. They emerged into the sunshine and Regina stopped short, tugging on Emma’s hand. Emma turned around, shooting Regina a questioning look.

“Emma, why is there a horse tied to our front gate?” Regina asked calmly.

“Uh…because I rode it here?” Emma blushed lightly.

“But you don’t know how to ride.”

“Daniel does.” She shrugged.

“Then why exactly did you ride the horse here?”

Emma’s blush intensified. “Because the bug broke down at the stables while I was finishing putting the final touches on our date.”

“And you didn’t think to just call me?”

“I kinda still wanted it to be a little bit of a surprise? And I wanted to see your face when you saw where we’re going.”

Regina cocked an eyebrow. “And you didn’t think to just call someone else, then?”

Emma’s other hand came up to rub at her neck. “Uh, no? I was kind of focused on you and getting to you on time and nothing else really. The horse was in front of me so. It’s what was used.”

Regina just laughed deeply, clutching her stomach.

“To be fair I did try looking for Philippe before I took the horse for a spin.”

Regina stopped laughing and tugged Emma closer once more. Emma’s hands landed on Regina’s hips as Regina’s arms came up to circle her neck. She pressed her forehead to Regina’s and sighed happily.

“You’re an idiot, you realize.”

Emma snorted. “Yeah, I do. Thinking about you brings it out in me sometimes.”

“I feel the same way at points as well,” Regina said quietly. She drew Emma in for a gentle, loving kiss.

They pulled away a minute later, smiling widely. Regina glanced over at the horse again and looked back at Emma. The older woman stepped back, but still kept hold of one of Emma’s hands.

“Well, what do you say we head back to the stables and start this date then? Think of it as our first riding lesson.”

It was just as Emma predicted, Regina was extremely pleased with the fact that Emma had caved. What was being around a horse costing her in the face of that? She could do it. The horse whinnied and stomped on of its front legs, making Emma jump slightly. She hoped.

“Since it gets me all pressed up against you in some way, shape, or form I’m completely ok with that.”

Regina detached herself from Emma. “Good. Now come on.”

She walked towards the horse, untying the reigns from the fence as she went. The older woman stroked the horse’s nose gently, smiling warmly.

“Hello there.” Regina magicked an apple into her hand and held it out for the horse. “Thank you for putting up with Emma. I know she can be annoying.”

“Hey!” Emma smacked Regina lightly.

The horse just whinnied again and took the apple from Regina’s outstretched hand, chomping happily.

Regina turned her head and smirked back at Emma.

She rolled her eyes. “If you’re done insulting me, your majesty, shall we go?”

“I suppose.” Regina walked to the side of the horse and pulled herself up gracefully. She scooted back a little, making room for Emma, and removed her foot from the stirrup. She held out her hand for Emma. “Come on.”

Emma grabbed Regina’s hand and put her foot in the stirrup and pulled herself up as gracelessly as possible. Regina snickered behind her as Emma flopped across the saddle and scrambled to pull herself into the right position. She sighed heavily as she finally managed to sit upright. Regina brought her arms around Emma, pulling her back into the older woman’s body. Another sigh escaped Emma’s mouth, this one much more content than the first. Their bodies melded together seamlessly, hips to hips, back to chest. Emma could feel every movement that Regina made.

“Follow everything I do and you’ll be fine,” Regina whispered in her ear. She nudged Emma’s foot out of the stirrup before reaching around Emma slightly for the reins. She kicked the horse’s sides lightly and clicked her tongue and the horse set off at a walk on her command.

Emma felt a little destabilized as the animal started to shift under her. She almost felt like she was about to fall off. A gasp escaped her mouth. Regina grabbed her hips with one hand to secure her.

“Remember what I said about following my movements? Now would be the time to start doing that, Miss Swan.”

Emma snorted. “What did you think I was trying to do?”

“Internally panic that you were near a horse.”

Emma scowled but stayed silent. It wasn’t like Regina was wrong. But damn did she hate when she was right.

She scooted back just a little further into Regina and concentrated how her hips moved and swayed with the horse’s movements. She bit her lip and tried to move with her, but it was harder than she thought and she kept almost slipping off. Regina caught her each time, not saying anything.

After about ten minutes Regina pulled back just enough to slip her hands in-between them. She touched Emma’s lower back. “You’re too tense, that’s why you’re having trouble. Relax, loosen up a bit, you’re not going to fall off if you move a little bit with the horse.”

She caressed Emma’s back again, massaging the muscles until Emma managed to relax just a little bit like she had said. Regina squeezed once in approval and pressed their bodies back together again. This time Emma had a little better time following Regina’s movements. She didn’t almost fall off the horse as much, but by no means was she anywhere near passable.

“It’s a little easier with stirrups.” Regina said, resting her chin on Emma’s shoulder.

“Right,” Emma replied, drawling out the middle syllable.

“As if you have so much riding experience for which to back up your sarcastic opinion.”

“Maybe I do,” Emma replied, resisting the urge to cross her arms over her chest like a child.

Regina laughed and tapped on Emma’s head. “Somewhere in that brain of yours you do, but you don’t at the same time.”

Emma nodded. “Well yeah, it’s not exactly _my_ knowledge. It came preinstalled on the hard drive.”

She could feel Regina’s slightly confused expression behind her. “Whatever you say, dear.”

They went on riding back towards the stables at a slow leisurely pace. Emma got better and better and following Regina’s movements until there was finally a good stretch of minutes where she didn’t almost fall off at all. Regina smiled behind her, squeezing Emma’s middle gently.

“Want to make things a little more interesting?” Regina asked.

“No,” Emma replied immediately. “I had enough interesting on the ride over here.”

Regina kicked the horse again lightly. The horse broke into a trot again and Emma felt even more like a tub full of popcorn than before. Maybe this time she was a tub of popcorn during an earthquake.

“Well, my dear, the thing about interesting things is they’re unpredictable. That’s something I do like most times about you. Except when you almost get yourself killed or lie to me. Other than that, it holds true.”

“I’ll try to avoid both of those things. They really don’t sound appealing.”

“Good.” Regina nodded once, chin digging into Emma’s shoulder slightly. “But showing up at my door with a horse instead of that raging death trap of yours is always welcome.”

“I don’t understand why you think my bug is a raging death trap but this horse isn’t. Like if it throws us we’re like almost guaranteed dead but if we wrecked the bug we’d have a fighting chance, because you know, steel cage around us.”

“With as many rust spots as your deathtrap has I’m not sure it has the steel cage going for it really. It’s a good thing you’re buying a new one. Good riddance.”

Emma tried to fight down a smile even if Regina really couldn’t see it. Yeah maybe a new car might be in order if she couldn’t bring the bug back to life after whatever had killed it this time, but the money from the bar had gone to something so much better sitting waiting for them back at the grotto.

“Yeah, yeah Regina. Hate on the bug all you like, but it still gets us from point A to point B.”

“Most of the time you mean. As I see it now this fine specimen of horse is getting us from point A to point B.”

“Special circumstance. I’ll have the bug up and running again in no time you just wait.” After all she still did have the extra money from her last bar pay check so she did have a little disposable income to blow and if it was on her beloved bug then so be it.

Regina let out a long suffering sigh. “And the point of fixing it just to replace it?”

“I never said I was fully getting rid of it, did I?”

Regina glared at the side of her face. “And why wouldn’t you?”

“Because it’s a classic, Regina. You don’t just get rid of classics willy-nilly.”

Regina groaned. “Just when I thought I’d be rid of that eyesore in my driveway…”

Emma snorted. “Drama queen.”

“Well, darling, I did dress in all black and literally curse a world. If that doesn’t fit the definition of a drama queen I don’t know what does,” Regina deadpanned.

Emma turned and looked at her. “You’re an idiot.” She leaned forward the last bare inch between them and kissed Regina gently.

“No dear, that’s you, but whatever makes you feel better.”

Emma just shook her head and turned forward again. The rode the rest of the way talking pleasantly. Emma got used to the trot soon enough, even if she did feel like popcorn and her ass was starting to get a little sore. She hadn’t thought being saddle sore was actually a real thing, but she was totally wrong.

They stopped outside the stables and Regina hopped down in one fluid motion. She went over to the other horse, greeted him the same way she had with the horse Emma was on, and mounted him.

“I think you’re ready to ride solo for a while, Miss Swan. Some easy trails at nothing more than a bare trot should do nicely.” She turned the horse and started to trot away.

Emma looked down at her horse and scowled. How did one exactly steer a horse? Regina hadn’t exactly covered it while trying just to keep Emma _on_ the horse. She took the reins and tugged gently to the left, the horse started to go left. She did the same thing with the right and the horse did the same thing. Emma made a noise of approval and shifted the reins in the right direction. Regina by now was way in front of her.

“Hey Regina! Wait up!” She called after her and kicked her horse into a trot. She clung for dear life for a few seconds before actually remembering what Regina had just taught her and managing to stay on a little better, not much, but at least she wasn’t going to face plant right this second.

Regina grinned over at Emma as she pulled up beside her. “I think the only time I’ve seen you more uncomfortable was when you told me about your mother’s tryst with Whale during the curse.”

Emma shuddered. She really never wanted to think about that again. Regina was right, horses were definitely better than thinking about that. Or the time she walked in on her parents. Another shiver passed through her.

Regina laughed at her expression.

Emma rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, like you wouldn’t be uncomfortable if Henry walked in on us. Because the whole Whale thing is almost exactly like that except from the other perspective.”

Regina raised a finger. “Ah, but I don’t have sex in the middle of a loft with no screen around my bed, do I? I needn’t worry about these things. I always lock the door.” She winked at Emma.

Emma shook her head but smiled. “Fine, fine, but for hypothetical purposes if we weren’t actually so good at locking the door.”

Regina glanced at Emma from the side of her eyes. She heaved a sighed. “I would be _extremely_ uncomfortable.”

“Exactly, and so would the kid. So.”

“I suppose I see your point, Miss Swan.”

Emma smiled, reveling in the small victory.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma proposes, screw the whole down on one knee thing.

They rode for a few hours, talking pleasantly and easily. Emma’s muscles burned as the sun started to sink and her ass _hurt_ like a son of a bitch. She hadn’t realized just how much of a workout horseback riding was. It looked like just sitting on top of a horse and bouncing along. It was all a lie. She wasn’t going to be able to sit right for a week.

Her stomach growled loudly just as the sun hit the tops of the trees. Regina turned to her and smiled fondly.

“Someone’s hungry. Then again someone is always hungry.”

“That’s not true!” Emma denied.

Regina shot her a look. “You’re the one who can eat a full meal and desert and then go out the next hour and do it all over again.”

Emma glared but didn’t say anything. She may have done that a couple times while she’d been with Regina, but each time had been on days where she hadn’t eaten anything else.

Regina turned her horse around and headed back towards the stables. They had just started on a loop trail a little over twenty minute ago, so it was more efficient to go back than forward. Emma watched Regina’s movements carefully and then repeated them on her horse. She smiled when the horse finally got the message that it was time to go the other way.

She pulled up beside Regina once more, shifted around once again to try and find a comfortable position. Regina turned to regard her, eyes sweeping over her frame from head to toe. Emma shot her a questioning look.

“I don’t think you’ll be the best horsewoman by any measure, but I think we can make you passable.”

Emma snorted. “You’re confidence in me is astounding.”

“Well, your horsemanship skills do leave something to desired for me to have such confidence. Perhaps one day. But I do have a great amount of confidence that you are very good at setting up dates.”

Emma softened, looking at Regina with wide green eyes. “I guess I can take that instead.”

They trotted easily back to the stables where Regina started to dismount. Emma grabbed her hand and stopped her. Regina scowled at her.

“Not just yet, we just needed to come back here so I could find my way.” Emma smiled reassuringly.

“What?”

“The date isn’t over yet. There’s more. A lot more. Come on!” This time Emma was the one leaving Regina in the dust for a few seconds.

The older woman pulled up beside her in a couple of seconds, still looking over at Emma. “How is there more?”

“You sound like it’s a miracle that I have a multipart date planned.” Emma carefully looked ahead and kept her horse on the ATV tracks from earlier.

“It’s not quite our norm.”

“Who said this was a normal date?” Emma glanced over at Regina. “I mean after all I haven’t been around too much in the last three months. I gotta make up for all the missed dates somehow, don’t I?”

Regina thought it over. “I suppose.”

“Good, because I think you’ll really like what’s coming next.” Emma started to bounce up and down on the horse but then stopped as soon as it twinged a few too many muscles in her ass.

“As long as you’re there I’ll love anything that comes next,” Regina said quietly.

Emma looked over at Regina. She let go of her death grip on the reins with one hand and reached over the short space between their horses and grabbed Regina’s hand. She squeezed it once and let their joined hands rest in-between them.

“I feel the same way,” Emma said sometime later.

Regina squeezed her hand back but otherwise said nothing. Emma wished desperately that they weren’t on horses so she could just walk up and kiss the other woman. She sighed lightly and settled on waiting a few minutes until they were at the grotto to pull Regina into her arms.

She took back her hand, shoulder aching, just before the grotto. Emma resisted the urge to spur her horse on even faster towards their destination. She actually did want to get there alive contrary to popular belief.

“Close your eyes,” Emma said as they got within a few hundred feet of the clearing.

“But how will I keep the horse on the path if I can’t see?” Regina looked at her.

“Just keep the horse straight, don’t worry. What we’ve come out here for isn’t far.”

Regina shot Emma one last look before shutting her eyes. Emma smiled and eagerly awaited the break in the trees. The horses finally emerged from the tree line what seemed like an eternity later. The animals automatically stopped in the middle of the clearing, awaiting instructions. The horse Emma was on set right to grazing. Emma couldn’t say she was surprised.

“Ok, Regina, open your eyes,” Emma said after a quick inspection of the area. Nothing seemed amiss, so it was safe for Regina to look around now.

Regina opened her eyes and gasped at the sight in front of her. Emma saw her eyes flicking back and forth over the scene trying to take it all in.

“Like it?” Emma asked, starting to get down. She almost caught her foot in the stirrup, but managed to wrench it out before she fell flat on her face and broke her ankle in the process.

“Emma it’s…it’s beautiful. How did you find this place?” Brown eyes roamed the bright blue of the pool, the deep green of the moss, the grey of the rocks, the bright orange of the tiger lilies, and the various other colors of the willows and wildflowers surrounding them, drinking everything in eagerly. 

“I didn’t,” Emma said as she walked over to the willow. She grabbed the plug and shoved it into the generator’s socket and flipped it on. “Philippe told me about it. Pretty cool guy, really.”

Regina gasped as the Christmas lights turned on and illuminated Emma’s complete setup. The older woman quickly dismounted her horse and walked over to Emma taking in her surroundings almost dreamily. Emma smiled widely as she watched Regina’ eyes flick this way and that, but ultimately back to her.

Emma waved a hand and the candles she had experimented on earlier flickered to life. “The rest, however, was all me.”

Regina stopped in front of Emma. “It’s perfect, Emma. Everything about today has been perfect.”

Emma did a mental happy dance. She had really done it. She had really made everything perfect for Regina. And that was without the proposal. She really hoped that it made the night ever more perfect for her soon to be fiancée.

“Well then, shall we continue our perfect day? I have dinner stashed away in the cooler over there.” Emma motioned off to the side.

She held out her hand to Regina. The other woman took it, smiling widely. Regina stepped forward slightly before Emma could move and pressed a gentle kiss to Emma’s cheek. The sides of Emma’s eyes scrunched almost painfully the force of her smile.

“I do believe that sounds like a marvelous idea,” Regina said, still hovering by Emma’s cheek.

Emma tugged Regina forward and bid her to sit down on the blanket she’d set up earlier while she fetched the food. She pulled a bottle of wine out of her bag of goodies and a corkscrew and glasses. She handed everything to Regina and Regina went about uncorking the bottle. Emma never had quite mastered the art of opening wine.

She trotted back over to the cooler and basket of plates and silverware. She popped open the lid of the cooler, grabbed a plate and set about laying out Regina’s favorite salad as artfully as she could on the plate. Emma had added a few special things to the normal salad that she knew Regina liked, but had otherwise kept it quite simple.

With Regina’s plate done she set to work on her own, much less artfully. There wasn’t exactly much you could do to macaroni salad and fried chicken to make it look really pretty. When she had all the food laid out she grabbed everything, thanking her days as a waitress immensely as she juggled everything over to the blanket.

Regina had already uncorked the bottle and poured a glass for each of them. Her lips were already tinted berry red from wine she’d already drunk. Emma loved the fact that Regina’s favorite wine also made her lips that much redder. It made it hard to look away from her luscious mouth, made it hard to think about anything but kissing the woman senseless.

But today was different. She could think about something else, something much more important. Her proposal loomed ever closer and she still wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to say. Hell, she still wasn’t even sure _when_ during the date she was going to propose. She figured after dinner, but that still left a lot of time open.

Emma turned off her brain as Regina took a bite of the salad and hummed her approval. Things would work out. They had up until this point in a weird way.

“Feta and cranberries in a salad, I never thought of that. I wouldn’t think it would go together.” Regina said once she was done chewing

 “Yeah me either.” Emma shrugged. “But when I left Boston it was like the next big thing pairing fruit and savory salads.”

“God forbid you go near any type of greenery dear,” Regina teased.

“Hey, I eat my vegetables!”

“If they aren’t in the form of potatoes then you only eat your vegetables because I make you.”

“Regina,” She whined lightly. “Why do you take the fun out of everything?”

“Because I enjoy watching you squirm while you try to set a good example for Henry.”

“Not fair, you don’t like brussel sprouts and I don’t make you eat them.”

“You also don’t cook.”

“But if I did I wouldn’t make you eat them.”

“Nice try dear, but you aren’t getting out of your dinner vegetables.”

Emma sighed dramatically. “Spoilsport.”

Regina’s eyes twinkled as she took another dainty bite of salad. “At least it isn’t wheatgrass.”

Emma shuddered. “Alright, I’ll never say a word about eating vegetables if that never makes an appearance on our plates again.”

Regina nodded. “I’ll accept those terms.”

Emma took a bite of fried chicken and surveyed Regina’s face. Bathed in the golden light of the Christmas lights and the setting sun she looked absolutely stunning. Not for the first or last time Emma wondered exactly just how she had gotten so lucky to be with someone as beautiful inside as they were on the outside.

The ring burned a hole in her pocket. She was going to spend her life with this beautiful person in front of her. She just had to propose.

In the dying light of day she considered it. But no, she thought to herself, it wasn’t the right time just then. Instead, she took another bite of chicken and almost choked to death when Regina made a joke. Regina reached over and rubbed her back soothingly until the coughs finally calmed down.

“Now, now, Miss Swan we wouldn’t want to end a perfect day like today in such as imperfect way like your death.”

“Yeah, I’m good without the dying, too.” Emma’s voice was still a little hoarse from her brief bout with death.

“Good, because I plan on keeping you around for a good long time, Emma.” Regina sent her a flirty smile.

“Same goes for you, your majesty.” Emma smiled.

Regina smiled brightly and went back to eating her salad.

They finished up eating just as the sun finally set. Emma cleared everything away from the blanket, throwing it haphazardly in the basket from which most of it came. Emma pursed her mouth and looked back at Regina who was now lounging on the blanket, leaning back against the trunk of the willow. She should have thought to bring a couple pillows to make themselves even more comfortable. Emma thought about just teleporting some pillows there from home, but she knew her magical skills weren’t that advanced. She sighed. Next time, she thought.

She went and sat down by Regina, leaning against the tree as well. Regina took her hand and set their joined hands on her thigh. The older woman’s eyes were trained on the ever darkening sky. Emma found herself tracing the constellations that she could see in the faded blue sky. The big and little dipper stood out immediately. Aquarius, Regina’s birth sign came next. Hydra, Libra, Pisces and a few others stood out between the branches. All were constellations that Regina had showed her during their first few months together. Before that she had done well to recognize Orion in wintertime.

“You know, you being an Aquarius is fitting,” Emma said after a while, thumb tracing circles on Regina’s hand.

“How so?”

“You’re temperamental, impatient, stubborn, and at the same time you’re also one of the smartest and kindest and most human people I know.”

“You know a lot about astrology?” Regina turned to look at her.

Emma shrugged. “Some. Enough to get by as a psychic for a couple of weeks.”

“You’re full of surprises, Emma.”

“I can be, sometimes.”

Regina leaned forward and kissed her.

“You’re full of surprises, too, your majesty,” Emma whispered against her lips.

Regina kissed her again, deeper this time. “I try,” she said between panting breathes when they pulled back.

She curled into Regina’s side, resting her head in the crook of the brunette’s neck. Regina’s head flopped on top of hers. Emma brought their joined hands to her mouth and kissed Regina’s hand lightly. Her other hand sunk down to her pocket and traced the outline of the ring box. Now. Now was the time.

She sunk her hand in her pocket and pulled out the box. The black velvet matched the color of the sky above them. Emma’s hand clenched around it as she pulled from Regina’s embrace. She turned to Regina and took a deep breath. She wasn’t kneeling. She was sitting beneath a willow near the love of her life. Tradition be damned.

“Regina…” she swallowed. She didn’t know what to say…or she did, but she didn’t have the words.

Her tone made Regina sit up straighter and look at her intensely. She looked into deep brown eyes and held her gaze as levelly as she could. Her hands were shaking. This was it.

“I’ve loved you for longer than I’ve loved anyone else,” She continued. “I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone else. Even when you’re yelling at me, even when you’re feeding me icky green things that I’d rather never see again, I love you so much it should probably hurt. But it doesn’t, all I feel around you is warm and happy and _safe_ and these last three years are the first time I’ve ever really, truly felt that with anyone. I have a family with you and it’s all I ever wanted; I realized that sitting on our couch three months ago. I realized that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Tears started to well in Regina’s eyes and a watery smile broke out across her face.

Emma mirrored the expression before going on again. “Because you and I? We’ve made it through everything together, wraiths, the community freaking out over our relationship, a son who had his head stuck up his ass, and us freaking out about our own relationship in just about every way possible, but we’re still here. And we’re still together. And we’re stronger than ever before. We’re two sides of the same coin. And I can’t imagine anyone else I’d rather be by my side.”

Emma opened the ring box and held it out towards Regina. “Regina Mills, will you marry me?”

Regina looked at the ring, mouth slightly agape. Her mouth started to move but no sounds came out. It seemed that she had finally rendered Regina Mills speechless.

She stopped trying to find words and just threw her arms around Emma, crushing the ring box between them. Emma hugged her back with her one free arm. She could barely breathe Regina was holding her so tight, but there was nowhere else she would rather be right now.

Happy tears started to soak her hair. Emma rubbed up and down Regina’s back. She was pretty sure her answer was yes, but Emma’s gut was turning waiting to hear the actual word. It wouldn’t really be real until then. Regina wouldn’t be hers for the rest of her life until the word reached the air. She wouldn’t be Regina’s for all time until then.

“Yes,” Regina whispered into her ear. “Yes, Emma Swan, I will marry you.”

Emma started to laugh, squeezing Regina harder. All the tension whooshed out of her in a second. She had said yes. Oh god, Regina had said yes. She was going to marry Regina. She was going to see her walk down the aisle in a white dress and be the most beautiful thing Emma had ever seen once more. It was all going to happen.

It had all been worth it. Everything up until now had been worth it. Every. Single. Thing. Everything had led her to this point and time. She wouldn’t change a thing now. Never again would she wish upon a star for a better childhood. It had led her here. And that was all that mattered.

“Emma?” Regina whispered again.

“Yes?” Emma whispered back, not wanting to break the mood.

“Let’s go home.” Regina pulled back and looked at her, eyes still watery, face still plastered with a smile so genuine it made Emma’s heart rate increase tenfold.

“Ok.” Emma slipped the ring out of the box and took Regina’s hand. She slipped it easily onto her left ring finger.

Regina smiled down at the ring. “It’s perfect.”

“I thought so, too. It looks perfect on you.”

“How did you find stones that matched the colors of our magic?”

“Crazy random happenstance, really. The first place I looked for a ring and it was just there.”

“It really is perfect, Emma.” Regina kissed her fully and deeply. “Now let’s go home,” she said again.

“Clean up,” Emma said, head spinning. She couldn’t really think straight, but she still didn’t want to screw over Philippe since he had done a lot for her.

Regina waved her hand, purple smoke curling around it. “What clean up?”

Emma looked up and everything was gone, even the horses. “Oh. Well then. I guess we can go home.”

Regina smiled again, this one morphing into something much more predatory. “Good, I have plans for my new fiancée.”

Emma swallowed hard. God how she loved that look. Regina’s smoke enveloped them, transporting them directly to their bedroom.

 

 


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma discovers the benefits of being engaged.

Regina had her pinned against the wall in a second, before the smoke even cleared from around them, kissing every inch of exposed skin she could get. Emma couldn’t catch her breath, sensations shot through her in a rapid fire fashion. Regina was setting her ablaze in a matter of seconds, but she made burning a pleasure.

She licked a trail up to Emma’s ear. “I love you, Emma Swan. So much, that I think it should hurt, too.”

Emma grabbed Regina’s hips and pushed her forward. Regina’s knees hit the back of the bed and they both fell together on the fluffy surface. They kissed each other, hands roaming anywhere and everywhere. It felt different this time, just slightly. Emma couldn’t put a finger on it. But then Regina was biting down on her neck and God it felt so damn good she couldn’t bring herself to keep thinking about it. Whatever was different, it was a good different and that’s what mattered.

She gripped Regina’s hair and pulled her back up for a kiss. Regina moaned into her mouth and Emma swore something inside her just snapped because the next second she had Regina’s shirt ripped open and she was kissing down the woman’s perfect chest. Regina didn’t even reprimand her for ruining one of her shirts she was so far gone at this point. Emma didn’t blame her, she needed the woman below her more than she needed to breathe in the moment.

Emma had Regina’s bra off in record time, managing to get it off with one hand while Regina was still squirming against the mattress. She tugged off her own shirt and bra and leaned down to kiss Regina again. The fire inside her quenched just a little bit now that she was skin to skin with the woman she loved. Regina’s hands roamed up and down her back, tracing the muscles and bones below her skin. Emma sighed into their kiss and relaxed just a little more.

The kiss turned languid and unhurried, all exploring tongues and slowly moving lips. Emma could finally breathe again but her body temperature was nowhere near normal. The heat between her thighs was distracting, but the woman under her was worth her undivided attention. Emma sat up just a little and slipped a hand between them to tweak Regina’s nipples a few times but she almost immediately missed the skin contact and pressed herself back down. She needed to be as close as possible to the other woman right now.

Instead she positioned herself so her nipples rubbed against Regina’s every time she moved a certain way. It was the best of both worlds. Regina still made the breathy sounds that Emma loved when she was playing with her breasts and Emma didn’t have to lose the skin contact.

But them Regina was pushing at her pants sending a clear message even though they hadn’t been able to detach their mouths for a long while. Emma obeyed sitting up quickly and shucking her pants, pulling off Regina’s in the next second thankful that the woman didn’t favor skinny jeans so she could easily pull them off with just a little help from Regina. She went ahead and grabbed Regina’s underwear as well. She really didn’t want to have to get up again and take off another piece of clothing. This time she wanted Regina in her arms forever.

Regina welcomed her back on top of her with open arms. Both of them let out a sigh as their whole bodies melded together without anything between them. Her thigh slotted perfectly between Regina’s legs and Emma moaned feeling just how hot and wet Regina was already. She pressed her leg a little harder into Regina’s center and relished the moan the other woman let out.

“God, Emma,” Regina cried.

Emma just smiled and started to kiss Regina’s neck, going straight for the places that drove the other woman completely mad. Regina started whimpering and moving her hips, painting a stripe of arousal up Emma’s thigh. Regina pushed her own thigh against Emma and suddenly Emma was moaning instead of smiling. God, that had felt wonderful.

Regina’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of Emma’s moan. She smiled distantly, still thrusting against Emma’s thigh. She pressed her thigh harder into Emma and Emma couldn’t help but rock her hips as well. She felt the fire inside her spark so much higher. She needed to be close to Regina. She needed to come. She needed both of those at the same time.

They quickly found a rhythm thrusting against each other, moaning long and loud, kissing whenever they could catch their breath enough, leaning their foreheads against the other when they couldn’t. But it wasn’t enough. Emma needed to be closer to Regina. How, well, that was an issue. They were already wrapped up in each other so tightly she wasn’t sure where she ended and Regina began. God, that was a beautiful feeling.

Then she was slipping off of Regina’s thigh and slipping one leg under Regina’s. Regina looked up at her, little scowl on her face because she had been very close to a very, _very_ good orgasm. But then Emma was pressing her center into Regina’s and both of them were lost once more in arcs of pleasure and arousal coating the both of them. And Emma was finally satisfied that she was close enough to the other woman. They thrust their hips in time driving each other higher and higher. The wet noises they made were so totally obscene and Emma wondered why the hell they didn’t do this more often because God damn was it hot and oh God they were totally going to come at the same time, Emma was going to make sure of it because she had needed to be so close to Regina and this would just be the icing on top of the damn cake, them coming together pressed up against each other, blurring the line between two and one.

Regina was starting to tremble under her and God they were both so close. Then Regina’s hands were at her back, gliding down the sweat soaked skin. Her fingers started to play with the skin of her lower back and Emma knew it was only going to be a few seconds until she came. She lowered her head to whisper into Regina’s ear.

“Come with me, my Queen.”

And suddenly Regina’s fingers dug into her lower back and she was coming and Regina was screaming under her and they were both shaking and Emma’s hips were twitching sending so many arcs of extra pleasure through her as she rode out her orgasm. She collapsed onto Regina when the last wave finally washed over her, chest heaving. Regina was in much the same state, huge smile on her flushed face. She kissed Emma’s temple gently and collapsed back into the pillow behind her.

They laid like that for a while until suddenly Emma was on her back staring up at a wickedly smiling Regina.

“Well, that was nice for a first time as an engaged couple, dear, but what do you say we try to make it even better.”

Emma just swallowed and nodded mutely, wondering what the hell Regina had in store for her. But as long as the woman stayed in her arms she didn’t fucking care. Regina just leaned forward and kissed her hard.

“Good.”

When Emma finally started to drift off much later that night it finally clicked. She knew what had been different this time. Nothing, not the tiniest little thing had been held back between them. They were each other’s now and they had finally, fully accepted it and all it meant. A smile graced Emma’s face as unconsciousness overtook her.

 

Early afternoon light finally woke her hours later. She groaned quietly and snuggled more into the warm arms holding her. Regina’s muscles flexed around her as a deep moaning sigh escaped her mouth. The arms drew her closer a minute later. A lazy, content smile crossed Emma’s face as she felt all of Regina’s warm body pressed up against hers.

“Morning,” came a sleep roughed voice from behind her.

Emma turned over so she was facing Regina, keeping their bodies firmly glued together. “Morning.”

Regina’s brown eyes drifted closed once again and she nestled farther into her pillow.

Emma laughed and kissed Regina on the forehead. “So finally I wore you out enough to not want to be out of bed at the crack of dawn.”

“Before noon is hardly the crack of dawn, Emma.” Her sleepy voice couldn’t quite pull off the sarcasm.

Emma let her eyes drift closed as well, wrapping her arms around Regina’s back and pulling her impossibly closer. If never leaving the bed again were an option she would gladly take it. She was way too comfortable in Regina’s arms to ever want to move again.

A yawn wracked her body. She could definitely fall asleep again. She was still tired enough for sure, they had stayed up until the first blush of dawn had graced the sky, but she fought against the tide of sleep. She wanted to savor this moment for as long as possible. There wouldn’t be another post-proposal morning ever again. She wanted to enjoy this just as much as she had the actual proposal.

Regina’s breathing even out again after a few minutes. Emma opened her eyes again and surveyed the older woman’s sleeping face. She always looked years younger when she slept, wrinkles smoothing out, muscles relaxing. Regina looked almost the same as Daniel remembered her from all those years ago when she slept. She curled one of her arms up and around to brush a piece of hair from Regina’s face. Unconsciously Regina leaned into her hand. Emma smiled softly. She loved this woman in her arms so much.

Emma felt the metal on Regina’s left ring finger digging into her back lightly. It was a pleasant sort of pain. If she knew Regina she’d have her own ring soon enough to match. She wondered what Regina would pick for her. Something more on the practical side, certainly, but that still left a lot open. She was excited to see.

It was really real. Regina had said yes. They really were going to get married.

 _“Finally,”_ Daniel said.

And for once Emma couldn’t disagree with him. Their soul had been chasing Regina across two different lifetimes, across two different worlds. It had taken over forty years, but finally they were going to be together. It seemed that everyone got their happy ending after all.

She sat like that, caressing Regina’s skin lightly with reverent fingers, for a long while. Regina finally started to stir again, breathing growing shallower and more erratic. Emma was there watching when her eyes fluttered open revealing brown eyes with amber streaks.

“Morning again beautiful,” Emma said quietly.

Regina yawned and stretched. “Morning.” This time Regina sounded much more awake. She disentangled her arms from Emma and sat up on her elbow.

“Our son?”

“At his grandparents until I text him that it’s safe.”

Regina nodded. “Forethought, you’ve actually managed to have some, Miss Swan.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I’ve been planning this for three months, Regina. Of course I thought of everything.”

Regina looked down at the ring on her finger. The blue and purple of the stones seemed much richer on her finger than it ever did in the case. Regina traced the outlining diamonds.

“I suppose you have.”

Before Emma could respond her stomach growled lightly. She groaned loudly. “No, I’m not leaving this bed and neither are you. It can totally wait.”

Regina smiled fondly at her. “You’ll get cranky if you aren’t fed soon.”

“I can’t be cranky when I’m in bed with you.” Emma’s eyes twinkled, sweeping down Regina’s form, barely covered with a sheet.

Regina cocked an eyebrow. “Be that as it may, after last night I find myself quite _famished_ as well.”

Emma picked up on the double meaning immediately. “So how do you propose we get food if we aren’t leaving the bed?”

“Call Ruby. Tell her to have our normal order ready and set it on the counter. I’ll take care of everything from there.” Emma’s phone appeared in Regina’s hand a second later.

Emma grabbed her phone and shot off a text to Ruby. There was no way that she was calling her. Emma would never get off the phone again if she called her. Ruby would want literally every detail and with a still very naked and very hungry Regina in her bed she wasn’t exactly up for playing twenty questions.

Ruby sent her a quick reply saying she’d text them when their food was done and a big SO?!?!?!? All in caps. She just sent back later and hoped that would tide Ruby over for now.

“So how exactly does this plan not involve us moving?” Emma asked again, setting down her phone in-between them.

“For someone who possesses magic, Emma, you really never think about the many applications it can be used for.” Regina shot her an amused glance.

A light bulb clicked on. Right. “Oh.”

Regina snorted. “It’s better than delivery if I do say so myself.”

Emma’s face scrunched. “It sort of is delivery if you think about it. Well, without the underpaid teenager at the door. Magic delivery.”

“Yes, the missing teenager is why it’s better. I don’t need an overly hormonal idiot gawking at the both of us.”

Emma had to agree. Between them the phone buzzed. Emma glanced down and saw the word READY. She looked up again and nodded at Regina.

“You can poof us our food now, your majesty.”

Regina waved her hand and Granny’s appeared at the end of the bed. The smell of a burger hit her and her stomach growled again. Regina sat up fully, sheet pooling around her waist, leaving her top completely bare. Emma had to stop herself from forgoing the food and satisfying a different kind of hunger. That would come soon enough she hoped.

The older woman reached for their food, handing Emma what was definitely her bag and sitting back with her salad.

“Get any crumbs on the bed Miss Swan and you get to change and wash the sheets.”

“Whatever you say, Regina,” Emma said, digging in quickly.

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes. Regina glanced down at her ring again, using her thumb to spin it around her finger. She chewed slowly, as if thinking.

“So, you’ve been planning the proposal for three months. You never were going to buy a new car, were you?” She asked at last.

“Nope,” Emma said around a few French fries. “Everything else was true, but I couldn’t exactly have you knowing that I was proposing. I kinda wanted it to be a surprise.”

Regina stopped spinning the ring and looked over at Emma. “Oh, believe me, it was. A pleasant one at that. I’m just thinking of the irony that you told me you were saving for a car and then that death trap actually dies after you spent all your money on a ring for me.”

“It’s not dead, yet!” Emma exclaimed. “That bug has been running longer than your Mercedes. It’s got some fight left in it. Besides I still have some money from my last paycheck from Bubba’s. I can fix her up good as new.”

Regina looked to the heavens and sighed. “Of course you want to fix it.”

“Duh.” Emma stuffed another bite of burger in her mouth.

Regina pursed her lips again. “Bubba knew you were proposing to me, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, why?” Emma looked over at Regina, confused.

“Some of the things he said to me make sense if cast in that light.”

“Oh. Still not going to tell me what he said?”

“No, but I think everything he said is something that you already know.”

“Cryptic, Regina, you’re really good at being cryptic.”

Regina smiled. “Of course. You don’t walk away from training with Rumple without learning a thing or two.”

Emma snorted. “Comforting.” She swallowed her last bite of burger and picked up a few fries. “So, now you know literally everything about the last three months. It was all for last night.”

Regina set her mostly empty salad dish beside her and turned to Emma. “I know that now. And no one has ever done so much for me and you don’t have any idea how much that means to me. But three weeks ago? Can you blame me for thinking what I did? I mean you did work at a gay bar.”

“Wait, what? Bubba’s isn’t a gay bar.” Emma shook her head.

Regina started to laugh, doubling over with tears streaming down her face. Emma sat there watching with a pout on her face. She didn’t think it was that funny.

“You’re telling me, all that time you worked there, you didn’t realize it?” Regina asked when she had calmed down enough to speak.

“No?”

“Oh, Emma, you’re hopefully unobservant when you’re dead set on a goal.” Regina wiped her eyes, still smiling widely.

“Well, my goal was marrying you, do you blame me?” A blush colored her cheeks.

“Not at all, but I do have to wonder how you missed Melinda hitting on you. Bubba’s was quite toned down in most aspects, mostly just like a normal bar, but almost everyone there was gay.”

Emma paused for a second. “Well…I guess that would make sense. Bubba is gay after all.” She shrugged.

“Yes, exactly. But you didn’t even realize that until he introduced you to his husband.”

“Gay men aren’t my thing Regina. I don’t need to know if a man is gay. I really only care if a woman is gay. And now I don’t even care about that. I have you.”

Regina kissed the tip of her nose and cupped the side of her face. “You do. And it’s nice to know that you’re so dead set on me that you totally missed a woman hitting on you every night for three months.”

“You’re the only one for me.”

“And you, Emma, are the only one I need.”

Emma closed the small distance between them and kissed Regina hard. Maybe she was a little unobservant when she was focused on Regina. It didn’t matter. She loved her. She’d probably laugh about this later, but for now she kissed away her lingering embarrassment, drowning in Regina’s mouth. Regina returned in kind, kissing Emma with all she had.

They fell back into bed once again, lips sealed together, take out containers falling from the bed haphazardly. It was the first day of the rest of their lives. And Emma thought it was starting off on a brilliant note. She couldn’t wait to see what lay ahead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for this story folks. The series isn't done however. I plan on there being one more multichapter story to finish out the series as well as a one shot of their wedding. So stick around for that in the coming months. Thank you all for reading. It's been great and I've loved the responses I've gotten from this story. Thank you guys!


End file.
